Twist of Fate
by MiraculousPhantom639
Summary: Set after Cars 2 but has no relation to Cars 3, however it is inspired by Cars 3. Lightning is involved in a terrible crash which puts his life on the line, Sally begins to question their future, if they were to have a future together at all.
1. Traumatic Start

**Okay so I felt like doing another Cars story because of all the Cars 3 hype that's been happening lately (and will continue up until the movie is released) so I decided to make a story slightly based on the plot of Cars 3, but mainly focused on Lightning and Sally's future together.**

 **It's set after Cars 2 but no ties with Cars 3, basically it didn't happen. Lightning is involved in a life threatening crash, it causes Sally to start thinking about their future if he were to survive or not.**

 **For me it's kinda hard to make stories different from each other because I love writing a lot of the same stuff but I know that can get repetitive after awhile, I will try to make this story different from my previous Cars story but I do apologise if they begin to sound similar... ^^;**

 **Well, enjoy the first Chapter! ^^**

 **Chapter 1 – Traumatic Start**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

It was his first race of the season, Lightning didn't want to hold back, he was determined to win this season just like he had won four times before, and he wasn't prepared to let his winning streak slide past him. He thought back to when his only thoughts were fame and glory, putting everything on the line just so he could win. Although he was still very determined to win, he wasn't going to risk everything to cross that finish line first.

After losing his back tyres that last race before the tiebreaker was announced, he felt really embarrassed and regretful whenever he was taken back to that memory. His old self was far too stubborn and full of himself to just stop for a moment and get his tyres replaced.

Ever since a few short days in a rundown town changed his life, he never wanted to act like he did ever again. It was not who he was supposed to be, deep down he always felt like something wasn't right with his life, but he always ignored it. But that rundown town made him see what he was missing from his life, now he knew everything was right about his life. He saved a rundown town and restored it to its former glory, he won four Piston Cups, took part in the World Grand Prix, and he had close friends and even a girlfriend. Lightning felt like the luckiest car in the world.

Almost too lucky in fact, but he didn't let that take over his mind. The sound of Guido screwing another bolt onto one of his tyres drew him back to reality. He was having his final tyre check before he would head on over to the starting line.

"Am I all set Guido?" The race car asked his fellow forklift

The forklift nodded with a smile before driving off, in that moment the loudspeaker announced for all racers to head to the starting line. Lightning started to drive off before a very familiar voice called out for him, using the nickname that only that car had given him since she first met him.

"Hey stickers," Sally called, smiling as she approached Lightning.

Lightning turned with a brightened smile, seeing her right before a race gave him a boost of confidence. He only wished she would come to his races more often, but he understood that she would usually have a lot of work to do at Wheel Well and the Cozy Cone back in Radiator Springs. He was fortunate to have her at his first race of the racing season.

"Good luck on your race today." She said with a heartfelt smile.

"Thanks Sally, if only Mater was here too to cheer me on, but I know he's got other important things to do."

He only wished his best friend was here too, but he had important secret agent stuff to do with Holley, that was at least how Mater described it to him before he left. It was confusing to understand but he took Mater's word for it and hoped he wouldn't run into more trouble after the events at the World Grand Prix.

"I'm sure Mater would wish you luck too." Sally assured.

There was another callout to the racers to head to the starting line, Lightning turned slightly before looking back to Sally, who gestured him to get going. Lightning lightly chuckled before he sped off; looking forward to seeing everyone after the race was over.

All the racers were now slowly moving across the racetrack behind a safety car, they all waited for the all clear so they could begin the race, and once that happened all the racers sped up high into the 3-digit mark. Number ninety-five sped past a majority of the cars in no time. He kept a strong face of determination as the laps continued to increase with every left turn he took.

Every number of laps or so he would go for a pit stop to get his tyres changed and fill up on gas, eventually he was reaching towards another tyre change and gas top up, he had been in first this entire time when he started to suddenly slow down, to Lightning's surprise he noticed that his gas was starting to drain out quicker than before.

Noticing that he had just missed the turnoff, it would be another lap before he could make his way for another pit stop. He began to grow worried, but he didn't let it consume his thoughts, he stayed at his current speed of 195 miles per hour.

Halfway around the bend, he noticed his speed decreasing dramatically, the pit crew called through his radio said he was running extremely low on fuel. Lightning was about to ask why when suddenly he felt his rear bumper connect with a racer right behind him at full speed. The force made Lightning surge forward and stop horizontally, blocking the other racers from going through, before they could react they all began to pile up in one heap of a crash.

Everyone was watching from the pits, they could see everything on the giant screen, tears swelled up in Sally's eyes as she watched Lightning disappear beneath all the other crashed racers, everyone else was in pure shock as well. Then, the speakers began to sound with a slightly panicked voice.

"Everyone calm down; we are sending emergency vehicles right away."

Some racers were lucky enough to react in time and stopped just before the heap of cars crashed into each other.

All that Lightning could see was darkness, all he could feel was pain, and all he could hear were the sounds of sirens approaching; everything began to fade away as his body weakened him into an unconscious state. Nothing but black and silence was all he heard and see from that moment onwards.

Meanwhile the pit crews from the race cars involved in the crashed rushed to the scene; emergency vehicles held them off as some cars were more seriously injured than others. All of Lightning's pit crew zoomed head on, Sally sped ahead, calling out Lightning's name as tears streamed from her eyes and down the sides of her body.

"Sorry miss, but he's the most injured from this crash, I'm afraid we will have to take care of it from here." An emergency vehicle informed her.

Sally didn't want to interfere with the professional's job, but at the same time she was deeply worried and hurt about what just happened. She didn't dare think about if he wasn't alive underneath all the other cars. She closed her eyes soundly as she let the tears fall, hearing nothing but sirens blaring and injured cars being towed away.

By this point the others had caught up to Sally, but knew that they couldn't go any further, they all looked at her with deep concern, knowing how much he meant to her. Then, out of the heap of injured cars emerged an unconscious Lightning McQueen, before his friends could get a detailed look at the damage on him, emergency vehicles surrounded him and within moments later he was gone.

For the longest time imaginable, none of Lightning's friends heard anything about his condition; they didn't even know which hospital they took him to, but they assumed it was the closest one to the raceway. It was late into the night when they received word of where he was and what had happened to him.

"Lightning suffered the most damage from that crash, his entire left frame is deformed, some of his engine parts have been fractured and we're still investigating what caused him to run out of gas so suddenly. However, we do suspect that it was a fuel leak. He's staying in the closest hospital to our immediate surroundings in the intensive care unit."

The unknown but trustworthy car lead them there, nothing but faces of worry and anxiousness, especially for Sally as they all followed the informer.

It wasn't long later that they were in the hospital looking to see Lightning, however they were all informed that he was still under surgery due to the severity of his injuries. Everyone was stuck waiting for the longest time imaginable, as hours passed, the more worried everyone grew.

They all watched the clock slowly tick by, but it was agonising with every moment they received no word on Lightning's current condition. There was hope with every passing hospital car, but they just drove on past them all. It was unbearable for them all not knowing if Lightning was okay or not. They hadn't got a good enough look at him to see just how damaged he was, but assuming by how fast emergency vehicles rushed in front of him they knew it had to be severe enough so that they couldn't see.

Hours passed before they heard any word from anyone, it was almost midday of the next day before they heard anything from the hospital staff. Barely any of them got any sleep, their worry of how Lightning would be prevented them from resting their eyes for more than five minutes.

"We've done everything we can, however he is on life support as his vitals are very weak, he suffered a tremendous amount of damage to his frame, some of his engine components had to be immediately replaced. Otherwise you're allowed to see him now. However, we can't support enough space for all of you unfortunately, who would like to see him first?"

Everyone looked at Sally, knowing that she would be the most distraught of all of them and that she wanted to see him more than anyone else, even though they wanted to see Lightning too they all knew how close the two of them were. They all backed away and insisted on letting Sally go first; she turned to them, her expression showing how thankful she was that they let her see him first.

"Well miss, come with me then." The nurse said, gesturing to Sally with her tyre.

She followed the nurse down the hallway until they got down to room fifty-seven, the door slowly opened, the suspense was killing Sally from the inside, as she drove on in alongside the nurse, Sally saw him, eyes closed, wires hooked up to the inside of his hood, cords hooking up underneath him also, his frame had seen better days, the entire left side looked deformed, but she noticed that they had mended it slightly.

Before Sally could open her mouth, the nurse read her mind and told her what she wanted to hear. "He's in a coma, we're not sure how long it'll be until he wakes up, until then we are doing everything we can to keep everything in check."

Sally didn't say anything in response, all she responded with was a gentle nod as she looked at Lightning with a grimace. Before she knew it, the nurse had left her alone with Lightning. She didn't know why she was fighting her tears, maybe it was to show that she had hope for him, that everything was going to be okay, and he'll recover.

But what if he didn't recover?

The tears swelled in her eyes at the thought of him never waking up, she shook in denial, forever holding onto hope that everything would be okay, but at the same time her mind couldn't help but think that way. Losing the one that changed her life, turned it around, and made her dreams become a reality. Although she hadn't known him the longest, it was the fact that he was such an important car in her life that she didn't want to lose.

She stayed there for what seemed a millennium, minutes lead to hours and hours lead to days. She never left his side, the others had wanted to see Lightning as much as she did but they understood how much he meant to her. The nurses brought in food for her, and insisted that she rest her eyes or at least let someone else see him, but she couldn't help but stay by his side, not being rude at all to the others, she knew they would understand.

Then a week after the initial crash, Sally began to hear Lightning's voice, he moved slowly, groaning weakly. His eyes staggered open, his movements subtle but enough for Sally to react. She examined his reactions to waking up the first time after the crash, he sounded groggy, she could feel the pain he was feeling simply by how intense his expression grew.

Those blue eyes on that red race car saw nothing but a blur, but out the corner of his eye he made out a blue figure, that familiar shape, that familiar colour made him think nothing more than that once car he cared about more than anyone else.

"Sally…?" He mumbled underneath his painful breath.

"Stickers…I'm so glad to see you awake." She cried with happiness and relief.

Lightning felt Sally's warm touch on his side, relaxing him, making him feel like all the pain had washed away for just a moment, until it returned with a painful shockwave through his body, he shrieked in pain, it was excruciatingly painful. To his surprise Sally backed away slightly, but then saw a nurse rush in only to have a shocked look on their face.

"Thank goodness you're finally awake."

Not long later, several medical staff surrounded Lightning, ultimately forcing Sally to leave the room. Lightning wanted nothing more than to have her back at his side; it seemed to be the only thing that temporarily healed his pain. He tried to call for her, nothing but mumbles came from his mouth.

"Lightning please try to restrain from speaking, we need you to be as mobile as possible."

While in the midst of pain and medical staff surrounding him, Lightning thought back to what the nurse said to him the moment she drove into the room. Finally awake? How long was he out? He asked himself. But no one could answer him, he couldn't even speak his energy was thinning by the second. It was taking almost all his energy just to stay conscious.

But before he knew it, with all the commotion of the cords and wires hooked up to him seemingly being messed around with by the medical staff around him, his eyes gave up on staying open, his mind falling back into that unconscious state. The monitor is beeping intensified, the doctors and nurses began to panic, the only thing Sally could see from outside the room was scrambling nurses and doctors surrounding her beloved red figure.

She only hoped that everything was going to be alright, but by the sound of the quickened beeps that defined his pulse and how the medical staff seemed to look like a blur from where she was, she felt like things had taken a turn for the worse.

 **Well, that's Chapter 1 for you! Also I should add that I'm not keeping a general length with each chapter I make, otherwise I feel like I'm forcing myself to write more, because in the past I was restricting myself to writing a minimum of 3,000 to 4,000 words, but I'm trying to look at quality more than quantity, and I think there was plenty of both in this chapter.**

 **So when will I update next? Well I am hoping to do these chapters on a weekly basis but that could change as some things might come up in real life that I'll have to deal with first. Otherwise I'll try my best to update this story on a weekly basis. ;)**


	2. The Waiting Game

**I've really been into Cars stuff lately…like you have no idea, not too long ago I purchased some Cars stuff online and I'm just eagerly waiting for it to arrive. It seems that it's mainly this huge fandom I'll spend a lot of money on because it's basically my life. I just wish I could write more stories about it or draw more of the characters, but I need to find a drawing style that's easy and quicker to do than me just drawing them with how they actually look.**

 **And with stories…well I don't know if that's harder or not…The main thing that I love about the entire Cars series is the relationship between Lightning and Sally, I don't really feel like writing about anything else other than those two, and my ideas on these two are very limited.**

 **I hope this story doesn't seem like I'm ripping off the movie or anything, I apologise if it does seem that way, I'm just trying to think of more story ideas to do with my No. 1 OTP Lightning and Sally ^^**

 **Here's Chapter 2, Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 2 – The Waiting Game**

 **Cars © Disney Pixar**

The suspense was murdering her from the inside out, but she didn't want to get in the way of the professionals doing their job. Even though she knew they were doing all they could to help him, she only hoped that everything would be okay.

His door closed in on her, she couldn't see what was going on now. Shedding a few small tears she slowly drove away, feeling like that they would be with Lightning for a while. As she slowly drove down the hall back to the others, her thoughts began to take a dark turn.

 _What if he doesn't make it? We would've never been married...no family either. He would just die alone and I'll be left here all alone...How would I handle things on my own? How will I-_

Her thoughts were cut off by the presence of the others, they had been anxiously awaiting her return, their expressions had high hopes the moment she looked at them, but when they saw her gloomy expression it immediately was passed on to them.

Sarge slowly approached the Porsche, his expression stern but showing concern. "How is he?" He asked in his very rare gentle and soothing tone. "You've been in there all week, we couldn't see him. But we understand how much he means to you." He assured with a smile.

She glanced away, her thoughts flashing back to when she was forcefully bumped out of the way so the medical staff could tend to Lightning, all the commotion and the sound of the monitors rapid beeping, it didn't sound good at all. A tear escaped her eyes, she closed them, trying to prevent more from showing up but she couldn't help herself.

"I'm…not entirely sure if he is. He woke up…but then he closed his eyes again and there were doctors everywhere and…" She began to grow panicky and even more worried about Lightning than she did before, Sarge prevented her from saying more, knowing that she was emotionally damaging herself the more she talked about it.

"Don't worry, I know he's a strong solider, he'll get out of this well and healthy." Sarge assured, showing a caring smile.

Now it was only the waiting game, everyone had remained silent about what might be going on with their race car friend in that very moment, they hated to think that things were going to get worse as the time went by. None of them rose to the question of whether he was going to make it out alive or not, they didn't dare go down that train of thought, better yet for Sally's sake but for their own too.

He meant so much to them all that they'd hate to lose him after so long. It was beginning to feel like that moment as he forcefully left their town to get to his tiebreaker race in California. A sad and abrupt moment that they had always put behind them ever since he returned after that race, until now where their worries were high for him.

For what seemed like hours later, they received a phone call stating that Mater was on his way and so was the rest of the Radiator Springs crew. The cars back in Radiator Springs had received word about Lightning's crash through Luigi and Guido, stating that they needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. All during that time of quickly closing down shops and racing out of town, the others in the waiting area couldn't do anything but wait and hope that in do time, someone will come out with some good news about Lightning.

All this time left waiting to see if he was going to be okay, Sally couldn't help but let her mind torture her emotions. Their relationship meant so much to her, and she knew for certain he thought the same. They had been in that same relationship state since almost the very beginning, they hadn't even thought about marriage or family yet due to their busy lifestyles, but now it was all gushing through Sally's mind like a volcano exploding after many years of staying dormant, or in this case, ten years of those thoughts remaining silent in her mind up until now.

She didn't want to think about it but her mind wouldn't let her wander away from it, it was daunting just to know that down that hallway, the love of her life was probably dying. Her mind began to put blame on certain things, especially herself, feeling like she was an influence to the cause of his crash, but at the same time she fought against it, knowing that she had nothing to do with the crash.

It began to seem like no one was coming out anytime soon, by the time the sun had set, everyone had something to eat and stayed in the waiting area slowly dozing off after being awake for the entirety of last night. Sally on the other hand, couldn't bat an eyelid down on her, she was forever growling in hunger as she denied anything the others suggested she'd eat, just the thought of eating made her feel guilty and sick.

When the clock showed three hours until midnight, it was then that the others from Radiator Springs had come to join in on the waiting game. Sally hadn't realised it but she had fallen asleep, since she had been awake so long her mind made her transition into sleep very smooth and almost completely unnoticeable. The others looked at her, Mater approached by her side, knowing just how much he meant to not just him but her especially.

Mater didn't even see the crash, but he was glad he didn't, it would only hurt him more. He left his business with Holley almost immediately after receiving word that Lightning had crashed.

Tears were still present around her eyelids as she slept quietly, her breathing slow and heavy as she entered her deep sleep, when her dreams began to take over. Flashbacks of the crash were the first things she saw, it was worse as her mind made her see it from more different angles, and even worse was seeing it all happen just a few feet away from him.

She felt like she could've stopped him from crashing, as the crash was beginning to replay itself again, before Lightning was turned horizontally, Sally tried to call out to him to slow down and move to the side. She couldn't hear her own voice, at first she felt like it was because of how loud the race cars would be and how seemingly impossible it would be for Lightning to hear her.

But as she tried to speak, the sound of her voice remained absent, she knew it wasn't there, she felt her mouth open and her voice project but there was nothing. She watched the crash yet again, her eyes could not stop from looking at the one she deeply cared for the most become severely damaged, as he turned horizontally, his blue eyes met hers, she gasped sharply in that moment.

Lightning tried to reach out for her, calling out her name but then he was buried beneath a whole heap of race cars. She cried his name, still no trace of her voice, she panted as she rushed to the scene, but before she could get inches closer towards him, blaring lights blinded her.

Before she knew it, she was back in the hospital room, and to her surprise Mater was right next to her. She almost jumped at the sudden closeness of the sleeping tow truck, but she only knew it was because he knew just how much Lightning meant to both of them especially.

Suddenly, she began to hear commotion from down the hallway, she glanced at the time, it was only an hour before sunrise. Sally slowly and quietly drove down the hall towards Lightning's room, out of all the rooms she passed by, his was the only one that seemed to illuminate the rest of the hallway against its dimming lights.

Before she was close enough to his room to see anything, a car shot up behind her and zoomed past, heading into Lightning's room without even questioning why she was wondering down the hallway. They were still extremely busy with him, it still looked like a scrambled mess in there, however there were less doctors and nurses in there than before, but perhaps due to shift hours there were less cars in there.

She was just outside his room when suddenly, the commotion from in that room stopped, she heard muffled voices coming from in the room but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Sally began to feel like she was eavesdropping and doing the wrong thing, she knew she simply had to play the waiting game until she heard any news about him.

So she headed on back to the waiting area where all her friends were, her hopes trying to desperately cling onto her high spirits that he was going to be okay, she only hoped that whatever was going on in there, they had fixed the problem and that Lightning was okay.

She returned to her thoughts, only her wheels guiding her as she closed her eyes, her mouth desperately wanting to tremble but her strong will prevented it from doing so. Before she knew it she stopped just before the waiting room, seeing everyone was fast asleep, she looked at everyone, almost all of the Radiator Springs crew were there in the waiting area peacefully waiting just like she was.

It made her realise just how many souls one car affected, not only would Lightning's possible passing affect just her and Mater, but everyone who was in that room would be greatly affected. It made her think of just how much Lightning had grown as a better being than he once was. Before he crashed into the peaceful little town he calls home, he had no true friend, others only cared for him in terms of fame and fortune.

He hadn't changed just the lives of the town, but most importantly he changed his own life for the better, everyday becoming much like the beloved judge, doctor and fellow race car Doc. The death of such a legend was devastating, things had taken a turn for the worst those days when Doc wasn't looking as bright or as expressive as he was before. No one saw it coming, and when it happened, it hurt them all tremendously.

Now she could not imagine losing Lightning, although she cared for Doc too, the connection she and Doc shared was like a father/daughter bond. She would hate to go through all that pain once again, and it was going to feel much worse than it did before. It would take her a millennium to move on from it, she only hoped that very soon someone would come out and say good news, but the longer they waited, the more hope seemed to slip away from her mind.

By the time the sun rose, many others began to wake up. Mater turned to Sally to see her wide-awake and looking down the hall, he didn't know how long she was like that but it seemed like she'd been awake for a while. The others had slowly woken up one by one; all of them glanced over at Mater and Sally with deep concern. Luigi and Guido looked down before they headed off to grab some breakfast.

Sarge and Fillmore stayed, Sarge had wanted to go in to see what was going on but unfortunately, he wasn't allowed, he was hoping he could help out with Lightning's dire situation but all he could do was stay put. Fillmore in all the meanwhile, was looking sad and glum, and every now and then saying things that could hopefully cheer everyone up but he knew he was just as worried as everyone else was.

The rest waited in silence, not wanting to disrupt anyone else's worries by talking about it. Moreover, they knew if they tried to talk about anything else it would go straight back to talking about him. It was agonising having to wait for hours and hours with no news about Lightning, some of them had seen the crash on television, it did appear serious, but they didn't think it would be in this severe degree of seriousness.

The others did comfort each other, knowing that the wait was long and unbearable for anyone. Some of the others worried that Lightning would be out for a while, long enough to cause them to get back to their jobs, because as much as they all cared for Lightning they still had a town to run. All that anyone could do right now was play the waiting game.

Waiting this long was agonising for them all, even though they all knew they could be more patient, it was only because of what or better yet who they were waiting for that made them tightly grasp the remainder of their patience, especially for Sally and Mater, who felt to be the closest beings in Lightning's life.

By the time it was midday, someone came out of Lightning's room and slowly approached them all. Every single one of them locked their eyes on the doctor, trying to analyse their every move and expression, seeing if they could read his mind, but could not.

"I have news regarding Lightning's current state." He informed.

Everyone crowded around the car, almost giving him the feeling of stage fright, but kept himself composed as he looked at them all with their anxious expressions desperately wanting to know how Lightning was. Was he okay? Was there something wrong? How long would he be in hospital for? These were questions all of the Radiator Springs crew had on their mind, Sally had those same thoughts but others too that almost crippled her emotions to think about.

 _Will we ever have a future together again?_

 **Well, I'm leaving it there because I want to keep this chapter based on the theme of the chapter title, but like I said before, I'll probably keep these chapters at similar lengths but I'm not setting a default length for all my chapters. Some may be a page longer or a page shorter than others may, but I am trying to prioritise quality over quantity. ;)**

 **Anyways, how is Lightning doing? Will he be okay? Well, you'll have to wait till next week to find out! ^^**


	3. Back to Reality

**I can't believe I have to wait an extra week until I can see Cars 3, most of you guys will get to see the movie before I can…:( So that does mean once that movie comes out on the 16** **th** **no saying spoilers in the reviews, I won't be able to see it until the 22** **nd** **or 23** **rd** **of June, and I've been trying really hard to avoid spoilers until then. I hope you guys are avoiding spoilers until you see the movie too :)**

 **Anyways, this story is really shaping out to be something! Not sure how long it'll be still but I want to keep it within 15 chapters because I don't want to drag this out. So enjoy Chapter 3! ^^**

 **Cars © Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 3 – Back to Reality**

The anticipation was murdering them from the inside out, but then he began to speak up.

"Lightning is doing much better from the crash, his frame still has some minor fractures and some parts of his engine had to be replaced so they will take a few weeks to be fully up to gear with the rest of his racing engine. When he passed out some of his engine parts began to malfunction, it was a huge mess in there but it all worked out in the end, he is awake and you're free to see him now."

A sigh in relief as they all smiled knowing he was going to be okay, especially Sally who had tears of happiness swelling in her eyes. She had been waiting for what seemed an eternity to see him, and now she knew everything was going to be okay. She glanced at everyone else, feeling their pain of not seeing him for longer than she did. Guilt robbed her mind, she'd hate to be the selfish one and take first chance to see him, even though her soul begged her to speed onto in that room and leave no one else to see him, but she didn't want to act that way.

Everyone else grew a little surprised when she said she'll see him last, but knew she was only being kind and selfless, putting others needs before hers was in her nature. She felt guilty from earlier seeing him first before anyone else, but everyone understands how much she means to him and would prefer that she'd go to see him first.

So, one by one, they all went in to see Lightning. The weakened race car was happy to see each and every one of them, he was beginning to feel much better with the more of his friends he saw, but at the back of his mind he wondered where Sally was. But that thought diminished mildly as soon as he saw his best friend drive on in.

"Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" He asked, his country slang present as he approached his closest friend.

Lightning mumbled under his breath, still feeling very weak but had enough energy to keep his eyes open, breathe and talk. "Could be better…then again I could be much worse, but I'm really glad I'm not."

Mater exchanged a smile, a saddened look appeared in his eyes, wishing he could do more to comfort him, but he knew being there for his best friend was more than he could do. "That's great to here, hopefully you can be out soon so we can hang out some more."

Lightning managed to force out a small chuckle in delight as he smiled at his tow truck pal. "I look forward to it."

Meanwhile, many of the others that had already seen Lightning were packing up in need of getting back to town. They had been away so long that their other hired staff would be requiring their assistance real soon if they didn't get back in the next day or so. So all except for Sarge, Sheriff, Luigi, Guido, and Sally were left in the waiting area.

Sarge glanced at the Porsche, he could see the struggle in her eyes, she had a lot on her mind. He knew exactly why she wanted everyone else to see him first, because she had a lot to tell him. He knew she must have thought about a lot once that crash happened, he didn't doubt it for a second.

Not long later, Mater came out from Lightning's room and approached the others with a delighted expression, when he looked at Sally his expression grew slightly worried be reassuring, he smiled at Sally before he stopped in front of her.

"He really wants to see you, he's actually very worried about you." He implied, a little surprised with the knowledge of Sally wanting to see him last.

Sally looked down with a glum look, but looked up at Mater with assurance. "Don't worry, there's just some things I need to talk with him about."

Silence arose as she slowly made her way down the hallway, she knew the rest would be looking at her, giving her their sincerity and sympathy that everything was okay now, but she knew they were all worried about her, having to wait her turn to see him, making her the last one he would see, made it all the more worrying that there was a lot on her mind.

The door was slightly closed, Sally could feel herself pounding, the anxiety rose, she began to feel the nervous heat surge through her. The last time she saw him he fell into an unconscious state and then was swarmed with many medical staff. Now she was free to see him, she had him all to herself, it almost seemed selfish for her to think in that way but it was true. Everyone else knew that this would be their shared time together, things needed to be sorted, after that life threatening crash, they all knew that the future was definitely clinging to her mind.

She began to open the door, the front of him poking out from behind the curtain, his mouth trembling before it stayed parted, she knew he was waiting for her. He had hoped to have seen her sooner, but grew worried and curious as to why she decided to wait till last to see him. Nothing but the beeping of the monitor beside Lightning was heard as Sally approached the one car she cared about more than any other.

With a moments notice, their eyes met. No words were spoken as they stared longingly into each other's eyes, it was at least a minute or two of silence until Lightning spoke up first, beginning to sense that there was a lot going on in Sally's mind, and it definitely had something to do with him crashing. His mind began to theorise what was on her mind, but it hurt to think of the scenarios she might have going through her mind.

"I'm so glad to finally see you." He acknowledged, a gentle smile as he lowered his eyelids.

She smiled politely in response, the tears she tried to hold back so he wouldn't see, but it was all he could see. She knew from his expression that she was struggling to keep herself composed. But before he could say anything she spoke up with a cleared voice.

"Listen…after that crash…I almost lost sight of how much you mean to me, and how far we are in our relationship." She stated, eye contact shifted away from his blue eyes, worried that she'll break down if she didn't look away. "It's been…"

"Ten years." Lightning answered with a small nod. "It'll be eleven years in a couple of months." He added, as he began to see exactly where she was going with this.

Sally looked up, mildly surprised she answered for him, but continued on from where she left off. "It's almost been eleven years we've been together, and I'm only now just seeing how much we haven't done yet. After that crash…I'm worried it'll happen again and…" She stopped there, not wanting to say anymore, she closed her eyes tightly, the pain she could sense in Lightning too as he sighed heavily.

It was excruciating to think about, he was almost gone not long ago but he was glad to have survived his malfunctioning parts, but as Sally's words played out in his mind, tears came to his eyes as he painfully imagined crashing again and something even worse happening to him that his mind prevented him from saying it, for the sake of how much pain he was in already from the trauma of the crash.

"I understand." He silently spoke, his words soft as he looked down before looking back up at her. "I would never want you to be in so much pain just for me. I'd hate for anyone to do so much for me that it hurts them, I don't want that. Making others suffer is how I used to be, I don't want that part of me to ever return."

He hated more than anything his past self before his life was completely turned around, it was too much negativity for everyone else just so he could enjoy the satisfaction of always being the spotlight, always being in the lead, being number one. The suffering of others for his own enjoyment was not something he'd want to see back anytime soon, and he hated it that he was seeing it in Sally's expression.

Sally turned away with her eyes sealed shut, but she turned with a subtle sniffle. She realised just how much he had changed over the years, his biggest change being over the course of those first few days he spent in the town. And even though being with him for nearly 11 years it truly shocked her how much he had changed in that time, he wasn't that same old bragging hotshot race car who crashed into their town and wanting nothing but to leave it at a first glance.

She smiled as she leaned in to nuzzle him, wanting nothing more than his touch in that moment, ever so thankful to see him alive and recovering, but the thoughts of their future together prevented her from obtaining a proper smile on her mouth.

"We just have so much to talk about…and I'd hate to keep everyone else waiting just to talk to you." She implied, her selfless personality shining through again, causing Lightning to sigh with a smile.

He felt like the others knew she wanted to talk to him more than anything, she had already been selfless enough to let everyone see him before she did. She had done more than enough already for everyone else, now she had to take care of herself.

"I know we do, but there is no need for you to sacrifice this time we have together for someone else. I'm certain they understand just how much we care for each other, and I'll bet they were a little surprised when you said you were going last, even Mater was shocked." He explained, his expression and strength lifted for a brief moment.

Sally sighed, knowing that being the selfless car she was she only wanted to do more for others than for herself, but before she could protest more, Lightning gave her some reassuring words.

"You're already doing something for others, you're making them feel better by you seeing me. And you're helping me feel better, I've only picked up more energy just by seeing you in here, I don't know why when anyone else came in I still felt weak but as soon as you arrived I've felt stronger."

He gave her a peck on the fender, shocking her slightly before she turned to him with a small loving smile, her eyelids lowered as she gazed into his beautiful blue eyes. She always loved looking at him like that, that look would always make her soften up and feel ten times more relaxed than before. However, the thoughts still remained, yet she began to think of them in a lighter and hopeful tone.

"We should get married soon."

The sudden mention of marriage made Lightning's eyes burst wide open to their maximum capacity, his mouth stuck parted with shock before he looked down at Sally, seeing her relaxed and confident expression. He knew she was serious, after all the seriousness of the crash and with what they just discussed, it shouldn't have come to a surprise that she would mention something like this.

It also something they hadn't really discussed until now, no one else made mention of it, the press didn't, their friends didn't. They all seemed to respect their long term relationship, they knew it wasn't something that was a necessity to their relationship, it wouldn't change anything except their martial status. But it only seemed like time was beginning to beat them, it was running out, they needed to catch up with it before it was too late.

The thought lingered in his mind longer than it should have, but at the same time his mind had not gone down this path before in terms of their relationship, it was something new his mind had to adapt to. Could he adapt to calling Sally his wife when others asked about her? A million thoughts arose but he didn't let them overwhelm her.

Although the thought of marriage was rarely on his mind, he always thought that he would be the one to propose and not her, but things had been all over the place so it was perfectly understandable that she was asking first and foremost.

Sally was still waiting for an answer, and although she knew he wouldn't say no she needed him to say the words. Drawn back to reality, Lightning looked at Sally in deep thought, knowing that there was going to be a lot of work behind this but he was confident that they could both work it out in no time.

"Yes, we definitely should."

 **I was actually going to cut it a little shorter than that but I thought I'd extend it a little just to add a bit more in there, as much as I like quality, I also like progress. The progress I make, the less longer this story will be. I don't want it to be a 30+ chapter story like most of the stories I've written already. XD**

 **So, expect Chapter 4 sometime next week, hopefully around the same time. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will continue to follow this story. ^^**


	4. Questions

**You have no idea how sorry I am for not updating this weekly as I promised, but I will say that the first week away from this story was on purpose as I had my last week of studies for the semester to focus on, and I'm really glad I took that week . After that I was supposed to get back into gear but I guess I just wasn't able to get back into gear as soon as I thought, that and I've been taking my time off from my studies too literal by playing video games nonstop everyday...**

 **So I really hope I can make it up to you guys somehow, I'm thinking of either extending this chapter, or giving you guys three chapters in the span of a week, but we'll see how I go with this Chapter.**

 **Also, I was meant to have written several chapters before seeing Cars 3 but oh well, I've seen the movie already and it was amazing. What I saw in the movie won't change what happens in this story.**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 4 – Questions**

It was only a week later that Lightning was finally able to leave the hospital, but due to his weakened state, he was out for the rest of the season so he could recover. When he heard the news, he was devastated, knowing that he would have to sit out a whole racing season and wait until the year after to race again. As much as he hated missing out on racing for the entirety of the season, he knew it was for the best, he even felt like he couldn't do over forty miles per hour, just the thought of it made him feel weak.

Lightning was thankful Mack was able to take him back to Radiator Springs, Mack knew that with what Lightning had been through, and the fact that he was out for the season made him feel more sympathetic to the racecar. It was all he could do, Mack did offer any other help if he needed it, knowing Lightning probably felt down about not being able to race for a while until he was fully recovered from his injuries.

Mater and Sally almost never left his side, knowing that he needed comfort while enduring his painful recovery. In the midst of all the pain, Lightning thought about his future career, where would it take him from this? He was out for the entire season, he hoped his sponsors did not think too badly for him not being able to race until next season, but at the same time, he felt like Rusty and Dusty understood.

However, the entire time he was left alone, his mind was drawn back to the day when Sally said they should get married. It was a very sudden subject to pick up on, he always thought that between the two of them they would get married someday but after this crash, it felt like it changed something in Sally that made her want to be married to him now.

It was not the idea of marriage that struck his mind, it was the fact that the timing of wanting to be married that seemed to steer Lightning into a curve of his life. Sure, he loved Sally, and she loved him. There was nothing wrong with them getting married, but the fact that Sally's thoughts had changed since the crash, it just didn't feel right.

He was going to be out of racing for at least another six months or even more before he could start training for his races again. Looking at the television as he saw himself on the news yet again regarding his life threatening crash, he turned off the television and slowly closed his eyes; a sting of pain stung his body as he tried to gently steer away from the counter. His doctor said he would still be in a fair amount of pain for at least a few weeks, but he wouldn't be able to reach his top speed until he was fully recovered in several months.

Lightning only hoped that several months didn't mean he'd be missing out on his next racing season too, he could imagine the press considering that Lightning McQueen was retiring from racing, but he had only been racing for a good five to six years. He wasn't letting down now, but he knew that in a few years time he will seem outdated compared to some of the new racers that will come in.

There was a lot on his mind, this sudden marriage proposal Sally brought up, his recovery possibly ruining the rest of his career, and what was he going to do while he was recovering? He didn't want to stay at home all day staring at a screen while everyone else around him was busy doing something with their lives, and as much as he appreciated his friends' company, he only wished he could do more with them.

Speeding down the back roads with Sally was what he was missing now that she was around him more often, and even not being able to practice racing around Willy's Butte. It made him think deeply about Doc and how his racing career ended with a crash, there was no way he was letting his career end the same way. He only wished Doc was right there next to him, he knew his mentor would never let him down.

So after days with almost nothing happening in his time spent at home, he drove out and headed towards Willy's Butte, but he knew there was no way no one would see him, and in the moment he heard a familiar voice call out his name, he stopped and turned around to one of his fellow friends.

"Lightning, where you going man?" Ramone asked, concern was seen within his eyes.

He breathed a sigh before he looked at Ramone with his murky blue eyes, seeming like his time spent at home was dull and boring. "I'm just taking a drive around town..."

Lightning didn't want to tell the full story, but he felt like everyone around here knew Lightning long enough that he'd never lie to them unless it was for something good. He gave one look at Ramone and could tell already that he didn't believe him, with a subtle eye motion towards where Willy's Butte was, Ramone breathed a sigh as he closed his eyes.

"You know you can't race when you're still recovering...look, I know it's tough now but just don't overexert yourself, you'll be able to race soon enough." He assured. "Now, how about a quick drink at Flo's, my treat?" He suggested with a warm smile.

With a glance back to Willy's Butte off in the far distance, Lightning sighed, knowing that going back to that track right now would be painful on him in more ways than one. Therefore, he followed his pal Ramone back towards Flo's where he parked himself amongst many other customers. Lightning looked around, just seeing things happen around him. Everyone looked happy and peaceful, like nothing had changed since the crash, as if it was only he and his friends who knew what great deal of pain Lightning was dealing with.

Everything seemed to race in his mind, he only wished he could be racing at this very moment. Then, his eyes steadily turned to see Ramone park up close to Flo who was in the midst of preparing more cans to serve. He sat there as he watched them interact.

"Hey, how's my fine lady doing today?" Ramone asked with a flirtatious look in his eyes before he winked at his wife.

Flo smirked before she lowered her eyelids on him. "Things are doing great, but even better now that the most smoking hot guy just showed up."

He watched a Ramone shared one last look at his wife before Flo drove off to serve her customers. "You flatter me babe." He said with a chuckle.

Lightning looked down in thought, Flo and Ramone seemed to be happy with their married life, in fact it was practically the same as his and Sally's relationship, only they were thinking of getting married. He wondered if getting married would even make a difference in their relationship, would it show to everyone how committed they were to each other? They were already really committed to each other, they had a strong relationship of several years now, but maybe it was the fact that it felt weird to say boyfriend and girlfriend because of their age?

Not wanting to think more deeply about it without some help, he called Ramone over, knowing that he would definitely be able to help him in this situation.

"What can I do for you man?" Ramone asked with a smile as he approached Lightning.

He stammered at first, not knowing what to start with as he had so many questions to ask, but he acted on his gut feeling and just let the words flow out of his mouth.

"What's married life like?"

Ramone raised an eyelid, caught off guard by this sudden question, but eased into it with a smile and a small chuckle. "It's the best, but I'll tell you something...it'd be no different if we weren't married I can tell you that." He explained with confidence, glancing over at Flo with dreamy eyes, watching her serve her customers.

"So, why did you get married?" Lightning asked, almost seeming stupid and clueless to ask such a question the moment he saw Ramone's reaction.

With a wide-eyed expression, Ramone cackled in laughter, almost pounding his tire into the ground beneath him. "Oh man, you make me laugh McQueen! It's because I love her, and I wanted to be as close to her as possible." He explained in a chirpy voice, but then settled down his emotions as he looked over at Flo with gratitude and pure love. "It may have taken a while for her to say yes, but waiting for her answer didn't stop me from loving her every single day. Then after we married, I just knew that this was definitely going to last a lifetime."

"Wow, you make it sound like an old tale or something, that's amazing...What you and Flo have, is something I feel like Sally and I should have someday." Lightning said with a sigh, looking down in thought with a dreamy smile.

Ramone raised an eyelid at the fellow racecar, confused after what he just said. "Wait, what's to say that you and Sally haven't achieved that already? You two seem close, pretty much the same as Flo and I. And I'll be honest with you man, Sally doesn't seem like the married type...Maybe you should talk to her about it." He insisted, before driving off, leaving Lightning to think about the rest of his questions on his own.

However, it was her that brought up the question, he thought. Did Sally truly seem like that kind of type to not get married? It confused him that she brought it up to him and now that he heard marriage wasn't really her thing, this seemed all too serious but yet strange for her to bring it up. It was definitely something they needed to have a long talk about.

Later that day, Lightning found Sally with her fellow staff cleaning out the cones, he felt like it would be bad for him to intrude on her work, but before he could decide whether to leave or not, Sally turned and saw him, and her expression changed in that exact moment.

"Stickers, there you are. I was wondering where you'd gone after you left home." She implied, smiling as she approached him.

Lightning couldn't help but smile when he knew she was thinking of him, and why wouldn't she? She cared about him just as much as he cared about her. "Hey Sal, I've just been out thinking a lot about what I'm going to be doing around here while I recover."

"Well you could come up with me to Wheel Well later to help clean out the rooms? I mean obviously we can't race up there but it'd be nice to take a slow drive up there with you." She said with a warm heartfelt smile.

The feeling of just being by her side the entire time made him smile, although not being able to speed and feel the gushing wind against his windshield, he knew that any time spent with her was definitely something that would never fail to make him smile.

"I'd like that."

In that moment, Lightning knew that the slow drive up to Wheel Well with her was a perfect opportunity to talk about marriage with her. There was a lot on his mind, and knowing that he can't go very fast he knew that he and Sally would have a long time alone to talk to each other as they would feel a steady breeze gently push against the front of their bodies.

It was only half an hour later that Sally found Lightning with Mater doing a prank on Luigi and Guido with all their tires being replaced by inflatable balloons. She smirked as she saw the two hide behind Luigi and Guido's tire shop snickering as they watched Guido scramble across the shop looking for the real tires while Luigi was hyperventilating and trying to keep the customers in check while they waited for some new tires.

Sally shook her hood and smirked in amusement, knowing how mischievous and dangerous those two were together, she secretly hoped that one day she could plan something with the whole town except those two on her side to plan the ultimate prank. She glanced over at Luigi who was assuring the customers that they would have their tires soon enough, and out the corner of her eye she saw all the tires stacked behind some trees off road.

"Luigi!" She called out, starting to feel sorry for Luigi and Guido being pranked by Lightning and Mater. "They hid your tires over there; want me to tell them to go fetch them?" She suggested, raising an eyelid as she saw Mater peek around the corner, snickering before he saw her and zoomed backwards in a panic.

The small Italian car sighed in relief when he saw where the tires were but scoffed the moment he saw a dangling tow cable hook behind the back of his shop. "Thank you, what would I do without you?" Luigi thanked with a smile, before his expression immediately changed. "Hey you two, get my tires back this instant!"

Mater and Lightning surrendered, looking down but still smiled at each other as they went to grab each and every tire to return it back to the shop.

After putting all the tires back, Lightning saw Sally watching from across the road at Flo's. A smirk very evident on her face as he knew the whole time she was the one who dobbed them in, he chuckled happily as he approached Sally, with the thoughts of the prank still in mind before Sally spoke.

"Ready for a nice slow drive?" She said, her eyes turning dreamily, almost making Lightning sigh at how beautiful she looked when she did that.

"Definitely."

And with that, they both headed out of Radiator Springs, cruising at a good thirty five miles per hour, not too much faster than how they drove around town. Lightning felt a slight ache along his axles, but it was bearable. So they continued to drive in silence, that was until Lightning brought up the topic of marriage.

 **I feel like I should end it there, I know there is still so much more I want to write but I'll write it in the next chapter, I don't want to write too much per chapter otherwise these chapters will take way too long for me to write...Anyways, I deeply apologise for not updating this sooner, but now I'm back and am hoping to update this weekly alongside my other story I started not long ago either.**

 **Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I will see you sometime next week for the next Chapter! :D**


	5. A Real Proposal

**Life's just been busy, I think I need to make a proper schedule or something because I'm not updating things as regularly as I want to…oh well hopefully I'll work something out soon enough. Anyways, I'm glad I'm seeing more people interested in this story both on here and on deviantart :D And thanks again for all the great feedback :)**

 **So, here's the next chapter of Twist of Fate. Enjoy! ^^**

 **Cars © Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 5 – A Real Proposal**

The silence was almost deafening, but Lightning broke it with a muffled breath. Sally perked her eyelids up as she glanced at him with a subtle concerned frown.

"Everything okay, Lightning?"

Lightning hesitated, feeling nervous as to bring up the topic now but it was the perfect time. They were both alone and had plenty of time to just talk to each other, he only worried that she would think twice about what he was going to say next and it could lead to some tension further down the track. With a heavy sigh to calm himself down, he drove a little closer to her and looked over at her.

"Do you think…me crashing prompted you to think we should get married?" He asked, seeing Sally's content expression change as he spoke.

She darted her eyes away, sorrow filled in her eyes as she closed them for a moment, her memories flashing back to the crash and the dreams she had of him crashing. It ached her deeply to think about losing him. "I just…don't want to lose you. I know that might seem stupid to say but I can't imagine being without you." She admitted, her emotions beginning to take over.

It was true, he couldn't imagine his life without her either. So much had changed since he arrived in Radiator Springs, it was difficult to imagine a life without Mater, the rest of the town, but most importantly it was even more difficult to imagine a life without her. She had changed him so much, changed him into a better being. He came back and spoke to her first, he didn't have to fix the town's neon lights but he did, and he didn't just do it to help the town, but he did it to help fulfil Sally's dream of seeing the town back in its heyday.

She meant so much to him, and felt extremely touched by her saying the same to him. It only worried him so that the crash would bring up marriage, Lightning thought back to what Ramone told him, the two of them practically looked like a married couple, they just weren't legally or officially married as such. It made him think that Sally was maybe thinking their relationship wasn't enough now, that they had to be married, it wasn't like her.

"I can't either, but it just doesn't seem like you to bring up the topic of marriage. I always thought we were happy where we are now…is it not enough for you?" He asked, immediately regretting that last part he said, using the slight pain in his axles as an excuse to release his grunt of regret.

Slightly shocked at the question, she paused for a moment, she let that thought settle in her mind for a moment. It began to confuse her as she tried to make his question correspond with her question about wanting to get married soon. She began to realise why he was asking her about it, and how off it seemed for her. She looked down in thought, she knew in the corner of her eye Lightning was leaning in closer to her but looking away in guilt for asking such a question.

Looking up at him, her eyes widened slightly in realisation. "Wow…I never realised that before." She replied softly, sighing before she was less than an inch close to him as they drove. "I guess it's just…being married to you will somehow make me feel better…but now that I think about it more it seems a little crazy."

Things had just turned around in that moment, was this the answer Lightning was looking for? He would love being married to her, but he always thought being married to her would not change anything but their martial status, everything else would still be the same so what would be the point in getting married then? He thought.

He didn't realise that now he was starting to feel down about Sally's response, maybe now he thought getting married was a good idea, but maybe not pinpointing the reason to it being because of his crash, but because it felt like it was time. "It does a little…but, maybe we still should get married." He stated, seeing Sally shifting gears in that moment.

"Wait, what?" She asked in confusion. "I don't understand." She implied, shaking her hood as she tried to understand what he was saying.

Lightning sometimes liked catching Sally off guard, but felt a little guilty when he made her feel confused about his choice of words, he chuckled a little at the thought. "I guess maybe we should get married, but not because my life was put on the line recently…"

He stopped driving in that moment, they were in the midst of the trees and puddles on the road, still a long way's away from Wheel Well. Sally didn't stop immediately, but noticed Lightning wasn't by her side anymore, she slowed down to a halt and turned around, seeing Lightning with an almost dazed and dreamy look as he looked at her with a pleasant smile.

Sally drove up to him slowly in anticipation of what he was going to say next, she blinked almost with a blank expression as he continued his words.

"But because we love each other."

There was nothing but silence for a moment, Sally's lips began to curl into a smile as she nuzzled his side and closed her eyes in comfort. "That is definitely a better reason to marry you."

They sat there nuzzling each other for a full minute, their smiles never brighter and happier, but they were brought back to reality as a gentle breeze pressed against their windshields. They chuckled together in happiness before continuing to drive up to Wheel Well.

That topic remained dormant for a little while, as they began to talk more about what they needed to do up at Wheel Well, but Lightning halted everything the moment they approached the waterfall. Sally grew confused, there wasn't much left to go until they were where they needed to be, was he getting tired? She thought, she knew he wasn't fully recovered yet so it would make sense for him to be exhausted after driving for so long.

"Stickers, you okay?" She asked, turning around to him, sensing some déjà vu as she had done this not long ago.

Lightning remained silent for a moment as she approached him, his expression full of seriousness, he kept his eyes pinned to the waterfall. He almost seemed lost, like he subtracted himself from everything else, his eyes never leaving the glistening waterfall. Not even looking at Sally, he began to speak.

"The first time I saw you against this waterfall…I somehow knew that you were the one I was looking for. Everything about that memory I can say was breathtakingly perfect."

Confusion was all that Sally could express in that moment, she almost felt clueless at to why he was bringing a moment up like this now, but her ultimate assumption was that he was just reflecting on the past a little, as they seemingly zoom past this before but now that he had to take it slow it gave him more time to enjoy the view.

She smiled as she approached Lightning and drove by his side, overlooking the waterfall from the same perspective. She giggled to herself at the thought of that same memory but from her perspective.

"What I remember is your cute grin filled with bugs." She teased, gently nudging his side, causing him to grunt a little.

Lightning laughed nervously as he remembered that moment too, feeling really embarrassed that he had bugs in his teeth when he tried to smile at her. "Well it wasn't everyday I'd go out driving in the country, I'm always in a trailer or on a track, and I never really knew how to keep bugs out of my teeth..." He ended with a sigh, getting back onto what his aim was with this conversation. "But Sally...that day truly changed me, and you know what? Now that I think about it, all those first days spent in Radiator Springs were the most memorable ones I'll ever have, especially all those first memories with you."

Sally felt like Lightning was trying to go somewhere with all this, it confused her very so, but maybe Lightning was just indulging a little in too much of their old memories. "Stickers, I..." She was cut off; Lightning pecked her fender before moving in front of her to see her eyes face to face with his.

"Now, I want to ask you to share those memories as my wife. Sally, will you marry me?"

There was a pause, Sally's eyes lightened up at his choice of words; she was almost left speechless, before she began to snort with laughter, catching Lightning off guard for a moment before he realised why she was laughing in response.

"You think after all that we talked about you'd need to ask me about it?" She said in between breaths of laughter.

Lightning chuckled with her for a moment, before returning to his serious but happy expression, her laughter was cut off when he locked his lips with her. She was surprised at first but let herself melt into the kiss before Lightning back away slightly, still showing that serious yet happy expression.

There was a moment of silence; Lightning rubbed his tyre against the ground nervously. "I know you will...I just wanted to ask you officially." He admitted, giving Sally a warm comforting smile.

Sally's laughter after the kiss grew softer; she approached Lightning with a soft peck on the lips. "Yes Stickers, I will marry you."

 **A bit shorter than other chapters but hey I did not want to derail from the title of the chapter too much, so it just seemed fitting to end it there. Anyways, I want to thank you all for being so patient with these chapters, I really wish I could reorganise my schedule and everything so I can update these sooner but things have just been a bit hectic for me.**

 **But as always, I hope to update this in a week's time. See you then! ^^**


	6. An Announcement

**Things have been crazy with me lately so I haven't really had the chance to work on any of my stories or anything like that. But I hope to work real hard on my stories and everything else that I haven't been working on lately.**

 **Anyways, I'm not sure where else I should take this story that won't result it in being basically an exact replica of the other Cars story I made a while ago, but I will try to make it different somehow I promise. Enjoy the very much delayed chapter! ^^**

 **Cars © Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 6 – An Announcement**

The two cars drove off towards Wheel Well to clean out the rooms, both of them had nothing more on their minds other than the lovely talk they had at the waterfall. Both of them occasionally looked at each other and smiled thoughtfully, both knowing that they were thinking the exact same thing as they worked their way from room to room not talking at all but instead just enjoying the company of one another.

Night began to fall and it was about time to head back into town, but before they left the motel, they took a moment to take in the view from where they were. Overlooking the town, they could see just how well populated it was by how the neon signs were starting to flicker on, the town had expanded quite a bit since Lightning arrived, and he was happy to have such a great impact on the town.

Sally smiled pleasantly as she thought back to the first time they raced together up here, remembering exactly how she felt about him at that time. Thinking that maybe there's a change to change this one's mind around for the better. She was glad she took that chance, now she knew that moment was one they would both never forget.

"Ready to head back?" She asked in a calm tone.

Lightning turned his hood slightly towards her, smiling as his eyes lowered a little just to focus his vision on the one car in front of him and nothing else. "Definitely." He replied, not long before Sally began to drive off.

In that moment, Lightning felt like he could go a little faster than he did before, after putting his headlights on, he slowly caught up to Sally, feeling like he could go a little faster than the speed he did when he came up to Wheel Well. First he decided to hint at it so Sally would get the idea, he revved his engine a little, almost startling her as she blinked and her eyes turned to him in surprise.

"Shouldn't you be watching that engine of yours?" She asked in a serious and concerned tone.

He revved his engine again, feeling no pain; he shrugged his tires and glanced at Sally with a smile. "I should be fine, don't worry, I only want to try going ten miles faster than normally." He assured, speeding past her as he picked up his speed a little more.

Sally felt hesitant, she knew he was still recovering from his crash and worried if he was pushing himself, at the same time she could tell he wasn't aching as much as he was before, but that wasn't enough to convince her that what he was doing wasn't risky. Before even considering going at the same speed at him, she asked him to slow down just a little bit, fearing that he might get ahead of himself and something could go wrong.

"Are you sure? Hey, how about just toning it down a couple of miles?" She suggested, more concerned about his health than anything else at that moment.

Lightning knew Sally was only worried if he was pushing himself, but he didn't feel the slightest of pain. It was extraordinary, it was only an hour ago he still felt aching pains but it's as though the pain had been numbed and all he could feel now was that nice breeze that he wanted to turn into a gush. After that crash he feared he wouldn't be able to race for a really long time, and knowing that he wouldn't be racing until the next season just made him feel like too much of what he loved doing wasn't with him anymore.

Sure he liked to slow down every now and then to enjoy the sites and cruise with Sally, but at the same time he loved feeling the wind blowing past him almost like a hurricane, racing everyone and anyone who would challenge him to a race. Racing is what he loved doing, he knew he wouldn't be losing his career but he felt like his ability to keep racing was thinning.

With careful considerations, and knowing that Sally was only concerned about how far he was taking himself, he toned down his speed to forty-two instead of forty-five like he initially wanted, somehow it felt more comfortable driving at this speed rather than thirty-five. He smiled as Sally sped up a little to match his speed, and before they knew it they were both feeling the gentle breeze as the last amount of light settled on the horizon.

By the time the two of them had returned to town, Lightning felt like he was wheezing too much for only going seven miles more than his current normal speed, Sally had head on to Flo's before she noticed how much he was panting. He decided to not worry about his wheezing too much, and possibly just overexerted himself a little and just needed rest. So he headed to the Cozy Cone where he rested himself, only to fall asleep almost immediately after entering the little office he and Sally called home.

Meanwhile, everyone else was parked at Flo's enjoying dinner, the neon lights reflecting off their glossy paint, nothing but tints of white and aqua filled the area, it was a nice settling look against the black sky above them. All of them were commenting on how their day went, Luigi and Guido talking again about how surprising it was that many cars bought the snow tires, Ramone feeling really grateful that his customers today asked for the old school classic paint jobs as it was something he was more used to doing.

Amongst everyone talking about their day, Sally couldn't help but look down with a smile as she remembered that lovingly moment where Lightning proposed to her. Although she had already agreed beforehand, it was adorable and humorous that he officially asked her as they overlooked the waterfall together, an iconic environment to their memories.

No one actually knew about it yet, though she felt like Ramone and Flo might take the hint. But then it occurred to her that Lightning wasn't at Flo's yet. She felt like it would be more fitting if he announced it than she did, let alone her being by herself at the time of the announcement. Before she could say a word about Lightning's whereabouts, Mater beat her to it.

"Hey where's McQueen?" He asked, talking almost above everyone else to get their attention.

Almost everyone stopped talking for a moment before they all began to question where he was. Some of them glanced over at the Cozy Cone thinking he could be there, but then eyes were on Sally as he was last seen with her.

"It's not like him to not be here during this hour." Sheriff implied with concern.

"Is he alright?" Flo asked to Sally. "Last time I saw he looked exhausted." She stated.

Ramone chuckled with laughter, implying a joke. "You didn't burn him out did you?" He asked humorously.

A few cackles of laughter responded to Ramone's little teasing joke, Sally's smile widened as she giggled at the thought, but then shook her hood to respond. "No," she replied in assurance, before thinking back to when he was wheezing. "At least I don't think so…"

"Let's go check up on him." Mater insisted, giving Sally a little nudge with his tire.

The two of them drove across the road and towards the motel, they could make out the red figure in the office, knowing for certainty that it was Lightning. Before Sally proceeded to open the door, she realised that he was actually sleeping. It was a little unusual at first to find him asleep already, but both Mater and Sally decided to leave him be and go on back to Flo's. Sally decided that it would be better for him to announce it the next morning after he was well rested. There was something about announcing things she felt unnecessary to do herself, unless it was something in court she had to object to.

The next morning, Sally found herself surprised to be awake before Lightning was, he was still sound asleep. She wondered if he had woken up in the middle of the night at least, but by the looks of it he hadn't moved all night. The door was still closed just how she left it, nothing had been moved, and Lightning barely moved an inch away from his spot. It was slightly concerning, but she figured it was because he burnt himself out a little too much the day before, so she decided to not think too much about it and get to breakfast before starting another lovely day of work.

Keeping their engagement quiet until he was awake was something she was having difficulty to maintain, because as much as she wanted him to announce it, she felt like if anyone asked her to talk about him in any way she would immediately say it.

She was just across the road sipping on her breakfast, peeking over towards the motel to see if he was going to come out any time soon, it felt easy to hold it in at first, but now that she was around everyone in broad daylight, it felt like something she just had to scream out. However, she managed to keep herself composed, staying calm and content before beginning her daily rounds up to Wheel Well and back down to the Cozy Cone.

It was just after midday that Lightning found himself in the same position he was when he crashed in there the night before, door still closed, but he felt like Sally was with him during the night, he couldn't help but feel her presence by his side, as if it were still there. He rubbed his tyre against the ground in thought, before he realised he began to ache in pain. With a small grunt he began to slowly move out of the little place he called home and went to find some way to help with this sudden pain he was getting.

"That's strange...I was fine yesterday." He said to himself in a low whisper. "Maybe I did take it too far yesterday." He began to admit to himself. "But it was only by a few miles, that shouldn't do much to me, right?" He asked himself as he drove towards the road, the pain still present.

Before he could find any sort of pain relief, his fellow friends at the cafe greeted him, they smiled and gave a small wave with one of their tyres as he drove up and parked himself next to a gas pump.

"Now where have you been all this time man? In dreamland?" Ramone joked in regards to how long he had been asleep, chuckling in laughter.

Lightning laughed in response, but felt like being serious about the pain that he was going through after almost having a full day without it. "I didn't realise I slept so much, then when I woke up just before..." He paused, yawning as he was still trying to adapt to the waking world. "I just felt all that pain I didn't have yesterday; I just don't understand why it just came back like that."

Flo sighed as she served him something to have. "You've got to not overexert yourself. We all know you can go fast, but for the sake of everyone around here, just try to take it easy on yourself." She ended with a smile and a wink as she drove off, serving other customers.

That made him immediately think of Sally, and then his thoughts were taken back to yesterday with all that happened. He looked around and it seemed like Sally didn't say anything yet, but he felt like she wouldn't announce it without him, seeing as it's something they should both announce. After realising she would be up at Wheel Well round about now, he decided to find some pain relief before checking up on all his friends while he waited for Sally to come back into town.

He figured this sort of thing shouldn't be kept a secret for too long, otherwise it might end up being announced wrong or not as how they wanted to tell everyone. So when Sally drove back into town heading for the Cozy Cone, Lightning was already there waiting for her. She stopped at a glance to see him awake, still a little concerned as to how much he slept and if he was in any pain from how far he took himself the previous day.

"Stickers, are you okay?" She asked, immediately showing concern more than anything else.

Lightning almost felt surprised that was the first thing she asked him, but at the same time it made sense since he had been sleeping for more than twelve hours, of course she would ask if he was feeling alright or not. He smiled thoughtfully as she approached him. "Well I feel even better now that you're back."

Sally couldn't help but smile shyly in that moment before giving Lightning a dreamy eye look. "You slept for a while you know." She implied, wanting to take this conversation a little more seriously.

"I know, and to be honest I wasn't expecting to wake up with that same aching pain I didn't have yesterday. But I managed to find some pain relief for it so I'm alright now." He explained as Sally headed into the little office they called home, he stayed silent for a moment, waiting for a response, but Sally seemed to be caught up in all the work she had to do, but what he said next stopped her in the moment of it all. "You think we could announce it tonight?" He asked with a smile that Sally couldn't help but adore.

Without saying a word, she thought about it for a short moment before looking up at him with a confident smile. "Yes, definitely."

Before they knew it, that time had arrived. Everyone was hanging around Flo's once again enjoying each other's company. Lightning and Sally sat together with eager smiles on their faces, just waiting for the right moment to announce it. And then just for a moment, it fell silent, Lightning opened his mouth up to speak before Mater pulled in alongside him and started asking about how Lightning had been.

"I've been great Mater, actually I've been-" He was cut off in that moment, wanting to continue with the announcement from there.

"Even though you spent half the day in bed man?" Ramone joked, causing some of the others to laugh as well.

The couple laughed a little in response, knowing Ramone very well for his quick humour, before Sally gave a small glance to Lightning hinting that he should continue.

"Well yeah I guess that's because of the pain I'm still going through from the crash...but that's not what I was going to say...or as a matter of fact what we were going to say." He stopped, seeing everyone look at him in anticipation in that very moment. He and Sally looked at each other with a wide smile, knowing it was time to tell them the big news.

"We're engaged." They said in unison.

 **Wow, I was actually starting to think I'd never get to the actual point of this chapter but I finally did! Anyways, huge apologies for the delay, I haven't forgotten about this story I've just been putting it off like I've been putting everything off lately. But I do hope to work on more chapters and wrap up this story sometime soon. I don't know how soon, but I'd rather finish it than having it delayed so much.**

 **Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter and hopefully I'll see you all again real soon. ^^**


	7. Blinding Eyes

**Well, it certainly has been awhile hasn't it? Since I'm back now I plan to really wrap up this story and my other one because I have several new stories I've began to write that I really want to upload as soon as possible. Some of them even have a chapter or two done already, I just haven't uploaded them yet due to the amount of stress it would give me.**

 **Also I will mention in advance that it has been a while, I did look over this story just to make sure I don't miss anything but please let me know if I do because it's been such a long time since I've written anything for this story (and even longer for my other story...) and I may miss some important details missed in previous chapters.**

 **So, without any further delay than there already is, here's the next chapter that is hopefully been worth waiting for. :)**

 **Cars (C) Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 7 – Blinding Eyes**

By the time they knew it, the whole country knew they were now engaged, it was almost like a royal wedding to some others, but to many, it was just a simple news story that was said and then moved on with. However, that didn't stop the Racing Sports Network to talk about both Lightning's condition and his new engagement as well as the possibility of Lightning retiring to settle down with Sally and maybe even start a family.

Lightning had heard of new rookies joining in next season, possibly being the next generation of racing, it was no surprise to him that the press was considering that Lightning McQueen would be retiring soon. He had been in the racing career for more than a decade, and he had already seen a few of his close friends in his racing career that had already retired, yet they were rather a few years younger than he was. It caused him to worry greatly.

However, Lightning didn't feel the need to worry at the present time, he and Sally had much planning to do, although one thing had been decided already that they get married at sunset at the Wheel Well Motel. Sally had dreamed of it happening for a very long time, it felt so perfect. It was where they first truly bonded and began to understand each other, and it was where they spent a lot of their time together.

It had only been a day and the whole town was congratulating them, whether they were driving together or one was driving along a fellow car would greet them with a smile and congratulate them on their engagement. They both loved that everyone was happy for them, Lightning was happy to have more cars to talk to so his pain from the crash would remain hidden. All this happiness prevented him from feeling almost any pain.

Until he and Sally went to sleep that night was when he felt a ringing sensation with his hearing, almost like he was going deaf, but it went away before Lightning could even tell Sally about it. He didn't want her to worry about him at a time like this. Right now was a time of happiness and joy; he didn't want his pain getting in the way of it. He went to sleep that night with his back axels straining, but he managed to hold the pain in as he slept peacefully by Sally's side.

That night he dreamt he was at the final race of the season in Florida, it was strangely dark, only Lightning could see where he was going on the track, he could hear many of the other racers panicking, and the crowd was strangely quiet and dark as well. Lightning's logical sense didn't kick in until he saw Doc crash right in front of him. His brakes screeched their loudest as he lost a layer of rubber from his tyres, he looked in shock, his eyes wide, to see his mentor in the same weakened state he was in that newspaper.

He remembers watching that race very well; after all, he had rummaged through Doc's old things and was able to find the exact race where Doc's life had been changed forever. The scene in front of him mimicked that same moment he saw on the tape. Red and blue lights flashed throughout the racetrack before approaching Doc.

"We only hope that this race today, wasn't his last." A voice echoed.

In that moment, Lightning woke up in trembling fear, Sally still fast asleep but was slightly jolted by Lightning's sudden movement. She simply groaned and shifted slightly, her eyes remaining closed as she continued to sleep. It was just after four in the morning. Lightning decided to take a drive outside to clear his thoughts, that dream was nothing like he had seen before. It was true he feared of his retirement so soon, he was not done with racing just yet, and as much as he loved spending every precious moment with, his now fiancée Sally, he knew that they would always have busy times.

He didn't want to give all that up and just stay around town doing practically nothing all day, looking around the dim lit quiet town, he thought about everyone that had been living her for more than fifty years and were still working their jobs. Their condition never stopped them from working their everyday careers.

However, Lightning had also thought of another thing, the jobs that his local friends had were very much different to his. Crashes were extremely common in racing, it only seemed that recently more and more older cars were being forced to retire due to a sudden crash and the fact that certain parts that needed replacing for older cars were becoming much more difficult to come by.

That didn't stop him to think about everyone around town though, surely they would have a breakdown at some point. No one was perfect after all. Maybe it was just that the town was so old they had a lot of stock of old car parts or that they all rarely broke down and never really needed to replace any old parts. When he thought about it more, it was very surprising to see that the many recently retired racecars of today couldn't find suitable replacement parts to ensure that they could continue racing. These recently retired race cars were all around the same age as Lightning himself, how could they not stock suitable parts for cars that were only a few decades old compared with much older cars that try to make them last for as long as possible.

He didn't want to think too deep into this now, he knew he still needed his rest. As he drove back he felt more pain along his sides, due to no one being around, he let the pain take over his emotions briefly. He winced in pain and even stopped for a moment and bit his lip before taking in a deep breath and moving again, eventually driving next to Sally before slowly drifting off to sleep again.

The next day, there was a lot of commotion around Flo's. The newly engaged couple assumed business was sparking up because of their recent engagement. So together, Lightning and Sally headed on over, only to realise that they were not at Flo's for drinks at all. They all had their cameras and microphones waiting for the couple to arrive.

"They're here because of us, think you can handle it Stickers?" Sally asked cautiously, knowing the amount of stress and pain he had been through recently.

Lightning took a small breath, as to calm himself. That dream was getting to him, he needed closure on that dream and fast, he didn't want what happened to Doc to happen to him, it was far too soon for him to retire. At the same time he didn't want to think about it too much, after all this paparazzi only came shortly after the announcement of their engagement so he assumed it was solely about that and nothing else.

He put on a smile and turned to Sally. "Don't worry, I'll be fine, you should know that either one of us can handle the press these days." He assured with a smirk.

They both approached Flo's, not long before Flo announced their arrival to everyone there. "Now there's the happy couple!" She shouted with a shimmering smile.

The cameras and microphones immediately turned to them; the cameras began to flash in the couple's eyes as the cars with microphones began to ask numerous questions.

"It is true you're getting married before the next season?"

"McQueen, do you plan to retire due to this recent engagement?"

"Are you going to have kids?"

"Do you plan to continue your racing career after getting married?" Another reporter asked.

Many questions blared in their faces, much like the flashing lights coming from the many clicks of cameras taking their photos. Lightning and Sally knew that many would talk about it, they at least hoped that they would have a bit more privacy than this. Unfortunately, they had to deal with it, they had been managing it for many years now, it only feel liked now things would be a bit different since they just made a huge change in their lives.

"One question at a time please." Lightning insisted with a small calm smile.

"Mr McQueen, has the crash permanently prevented you from racing ever again?" One reporter asked.

Lightning widened his eyes and paused himself for a moment as his memories flashed back to that dream he had last night, he looked down in slight worry, but then remembered he was on camera so he had to remain content with his answers.

He cleared his voice before answering confidently. "No, I'm only out for the current season. Next season I will definitely be back in the races."

"Do you consider retiring after the next season if that is the case? Doctors reported you are quite weak in our current condition, could this be a lifetime affect on your racing career?"

Sally saw Lightning was beginning to grow tense, she knew he wouldn't be able to answer anything calmly anymore, so she drove in front of Lightning to answer the questions for him. "As far as we know, it's only temporary and in no way permanent. The doctors did confirm Lightning cannot race this season, which is not to say he won't be racing the next season." She explained, her lawyer side showing slightly.

The reporters grew silent for a moment, unsure of what to say next. They were hoping to continue with their theory on Lightning McQueen retiring but no other questions came to mind. It seemed that Sally did a wonderful job at hushing those reporters and keeping them in check, almost checkmate. They were close to checkmate until they began to start splurging about their recent engagement as well as what their relationship holds for the future.

"Sally, do you intend to marry McQueen and start a family with him very soon?"

"Miss, what kind of paint job will you be wearing on the day? Will it be cream white or matte silver?"

"When is the wedding?"

The questions almost overwhelmed the two of them; Lightning was about to speak but then, the cameras began to flash horrendously. His eyes were seeing nothing but white, his hearing became faint; ringing replaced all the commotion that was going on. Lightning rolled back slightly, Sally looked to notice that the flashing lights were hurting him.

She drove in front of Lightning to prevent any further flashing in his eyes. "Please stop, you're hurting his eyes." She pleaded in a calmly matter.

"He's a race car; he's used to this sort of blinding light all the time." One of the reporters said in a professional and confident tone.

All that Lightning could see was Sally in front of him, trying to stop the others from flashing their camera lights at them. Then, another quick flash, and everything he could see became completely black.

The next thing he heard was Sally's voice, but still darkness.

 **I was thinking of continuing it from there, but I wanted to keep with the title of the Chapter. So, I know it's been a very long wait, but I do promise to finish this story within the next month or so. I really hate that I keep putting this off and it just makes me feel worse every time because I know how long you guys have been waiting, but I hope to really get cracking with chapters over the next coming weeks. ;)**


	8. Change of Mind

**Umm next coming weeks…try next coming year… I'm really sorry about not uploading new chapters sooner, life has been complicated and I've only just recently got my priorities straight, but I do intend to finish this story over the coming weeks, and this time I mean coming weeks and not 6+ months…**

 **Hopefully I don't twist anything from previous chapters that won't make sense because it has been a long time since I last wrote a chapter for this story, but I'm pretty sure I'll just pick up from where I left off. ;)**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoy the next very delayed chapter, and this time I'll be sure to make it longer for the sake of you guys waiting so long for it. :)**

 **Cars © Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 8 – Change of Mind**

A loving yet worried voice echoed in his mind, Lightning saw nothing but darkness around him, that sweet voice that sounded in pain only made his pain scream more in agony, wishing for that sweet amazing voice to stop sounding hurt, he hated hearing that voice in such distress.

He wanted to open his eyes, he really did, but his strength was not with him. His eyelids felt like a ton of bricks keeping them shut for all eternity, he wanted to soothe the distressed voice but he couldn't, the pain was too much, and any strength he had left in him was long gone.

It was hours, which almost turned into days and then weeks, Sally did not want this to be the end, and she assumed he had merely fainted due to his recent recovery and the blinding lights distorting his vision causing him to pass out. She never left his side, her fellow Radiator Springs friends came in every now and then just to check on them and each helped look after the cone while she and Lightning were absent. She was very grateful for all the loving friends she had made here, now she was only thinking of the one that crashed into the town many years ago and stole her heart, she wanted to think of other things but she could not, not until she saw her partner move again.

It had been nearly two days, before a small quiet groan managed to escape Lightning's lips and his tyres twitched slightly. Sally's eyes widened as she smiled in great relief, nuzzling his fender as he very slowly came back to reality.

"Welcome back stickers."

Still clinging to his side, Sally patiently waited or Lightning to regain more of his strength. In the meantime, her thoughts drifted back to before Lightning passed out, when the blaring cameras were flashing in their eyes and millions of questions echoed everywhere.

" _When is the wedding?"_

" _Sally, do you intend to marry McQueen and start a family with him very soon?"_

" _Are you going to have kids?"_

Starting a family…now that was something, she barely even thought about until recently, especially with Lightning's life being on the line recently as well. It was hard to think of now, even getting married was difficult to look at. With what just happened to him, she worried that he would never fully recover from this and be forced to retire; she did not want him to lose his career that he loved so much. Racing meant a lot to him, he would never give that up.

Now was the long waiting game yet again to finally hear Lightning speak again, all she had heard were quiet moans as he moved around slowly, Sally felt like she should talk to him while he was like this, she felt like he was more conscious now that he would hear her voice, she turned to him, his slowly and staggered movements assured her that he was recovering slowly.

"Lightning…I've been thinking…you should rest up until you're fully recovered. And, I know how much racing means to you, but seeing you crash…and seeing what happened to you just now…I can't bear to see you getting hurt again. So when you wake up again, please just take it very slow for a while. I know I trust you, but I know that old side of you still lingers in there and wants to compete, be fast and win. I don't want you hurting yourself anymore, especially at a time like this, I could lose you…and especially with everything that's been happening lately…I can't stand to see myself losing you…"

Her eyes were filled with tears, she hoped he heard every single word she said, and she poured her heart out to him. She wanted to live out the rest of her years with him alive and well, and possibly with a family, she was not losing her partner any time soon, and she wanted that to be sure.

Sally knew that there would be hard times in their relationship, but recently it has been nothing but heart wrenching moments, she did not want Lightning to hurt himself, especially in his condition. In a way, she felt like it was a bad idea to go over towards the reporters with blinding, flashing cameras in their faces, but when he told her that he would be fine, she took his word for it, only to realise that he was wrong.

Maybe it was poor judgment, or maybe it was forced, she did not know what it was, but in the end, Lightning ended up losing consciousness because of his decision. She trusted him, but she was not sure if he trusted himself, it seemed that he would somehow always try to push himself to get better sooner so he could get back into racing, she knew the last thing on his mind was to retire, or at least one of the current things he would leave to last at the moment, especially regarding his condition.

It was late at night, most had gone to sleep for the night, Sally was told that the reporters had finally left, however a few decided to stay until Lightning was fully awake again. She knew that eventually the blinding lights would be back in Lightning's face again, all of this had to be taken very seriously, especially in his current condition. The blinding camera flashing is what caused him to be in this state. Sally knew that if they did not respect Lightning's current state she would have to take a stand, but she did suspect that they would understand that flashing lights would not help him right now, especially after witnessing him passing out in front of the entire media.

The sound of his moans made Sally's sleep deprived state into the most alert she had ever been, she turned as she saw her partner open his eyes slowly. She saw them open all the way, not giving up on closing again. Those blue eyes stared across the room, like a wanderer, but then they stopped the moment they made eye contact with her. A small weakened smile shined against his lips, his lips parted but no noise escaped, only his breath. Lightning looked down, sighing is disappointment that he couldn't respond to Sally's loving words, but he knew she would understand that he was still recovering.

"I'm glad to see you finally awake, stickers." Sally said beaming with happiness as she nuzzled his fender.

Lightning couldn't say anything to respond, but with the strength he had, he nuzzled her side and moaned in relief and happiness, smiling as he closed his eyes to take in this moment with her. They stayed that way for what could've been hours, since Lightning couldn't speak, Sally thought it was best to not say much to him, she didn't want to pressure him into talking.

All that night as Sally nuzzled his side, and eventually drifting off to sleep, Lightning thought back to the events of before he blacked out. He wondered how blinding lights could've made him unconscious like that, he did suspect however, that it was connected to his recovery time since his racing crash.

The time seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye, once the sun began to touch the beginning of the horizon; there was already a knock at the door. He turned to see Sally still fast asleep, he smiled in thought, very glad to have someone as dedicated as her to be in his life, she had worn herself out just to be by his side. At the same time, he did worry for her; he didn't want her to take too much time off just to take care of him.

In that moment of thought, he began to realise that sounded a little stubborn, Sally was only doing what she felt was best. She wanted to be the first one he sees after waking up, and indeed, she was. Lightning could not think of a better sight to wake up to than seeing the love of his life by his side, smiling as they shared intimate eye contact with each other. The thought of it made his smile widened as he looked down at her.

While in his train of thought, someone had slid into the room quietly, almost startling Lightning when they drove past him, but the moment he saw movement he knew it would be a friend, or at the very least someone who was taking good care of him, but to his surprise, it was actually his doctor he had hired many years ago.

Ever since Doc had passed away he did not want anyone else to look after him on or off the tracks, but Sally convinced him that he needed a new doctor at the very least. He knew enough on the racing tracks to get by on his own, but there was not anyone around to help him if he did crash. He was lucky to have crashed in a busy area so he had help given to him very quickly.

He was pleased to see Doctor Sharone here, he was disappointed not to see her when he was undergoing major repairs from his crash, but understood that she had other appointments, as he did not want a single doctor just to himself like many other famous cars, he felt it would be unfair to her. Greeting with a nod, Sharone smiled and greeted Lightning back in a whisper voice, as to not disturb Sally.

"Good morning Mr. McQueen, how are you feeling?" She asked pleasantly as she settled her things down.

Lightning's lips parted, and was relieved that when he used his voice box, he actually heard his voice echo from his mouth once again. "I'm doing great, especially since Sally was with me this whole time." He replied in a whisper tone, looking to Sally in the midst of responding.

Sharone smiled in response, before looking over the report from Lightning's minor accident, her smile began to shrink, and the look on her face did not make Lightning feel relived much anymore. "What is it?" He asked in worry and curiosity.

She hummed as she looked over the report one last time before looking up at her patient. "It appears you've suffered some form of serious vertigo from the flashing lights, and with your recent crash and surgery recovery this is a common occurrence to happen if one has any form of flashing lights close to their eyes." She informed in a slightly worrisome but professional tone.

It made sense to Lightning, especially after his crash and current recovery state, it did not surprise him that the flashing lights caused him to feel dizzy and eventually lose consciousness. "I knew it had something to do with it. It's because of my weakened state, yes?"

"It is, your mind cannot take that much information in at once, it overwhelmed your system and it began to shut down on you, which is why you fainted."

He had suspected that was the case, he only hoped that the reporters had learned their lesson after this little accident. The last thing he wanted to see once he left this room was more flashing lights yet again, and the worried and frustrated look on Lightning's face spoke it all to Sharone.

"Don't worry; I'll be sure to inform the public that you are fine, and that no more flashing lights are permitted until you are completely recovered." She assured with a wink and a smile.

Sharone looked over to Sally, seeing her snooze peacefully; she adored the dedication Sally had to her fiancé. "Sally is definitely a keeper, isn't she?"

Lightning turned to her and nuzzled her softly, as to not wake her up. "Yeah, she is. I can't wait until we can start a new chapter of our lives together."

His doctor could not help but look at them adoringly, seeing how lovely they looked together as a loving couple; before her mind drifted back to Lightning's recent events and the look of worry spread across her face. "It is lovely to see the two of you together, but do please try and be more careful with yourself Lightning. It would be too much of a burden for Sally if she were to lose you any time soon, and I know you two have had ten years already spent together, but hearing that you're both getting married…it would hurt everyone and especially Sally if she were to lose you now. So please do be careful with yourself, as much as I really don't want you to get hurt, I'm worried for her too."

He knew Sharone was right, not taking things seriously and taking risks should not be things to cross his mind anytime soon. There was a wedding to plan soon, and maybe further down the line he and Sally would like to start a family. Time was passing them fast; they did not want to lose it, even if the last decade together was incredibly memorable, they wanted the next decade to be yet another amazing one to remember.

Sighing deeply, he turned to a slightly disturbed Sally, she was still asleep, but look to be waking up very soon, he didn't want to lose this, Sally meant the most to him more than anything else. He did not want to lose her, but he also does not want to leave such a heavy burden on her after his selfish and stubborn reasons. Things had to be careful from now on; at least until he was better, but with what he had just suffered, he feared it would be a very long time until he would race again.

That was when he decided to make the ultimate decision, he looked up at Sharone with a nod, understand her reasons, but not telling her the decision he had just made in mind. The first one he would tell would be his soon to be wife, whom he plans to spend as much time as possible with while being very careful with himself from now on.

After a little while, Sharone left the room when she saw Sally begin to wake up. It was best to leave the two alone, she knew that the two of them had some catching up to do; she could tell that there was something on Lightning's mind when she left the room.

"Stickers?" Sally mumbled, her eyes slowly opening.

He nuzzled her side in affection. "Good morning Sally." He greeted with a heart-warming smile.

Hearing his voice again made her almost cry tears of joy, her smile brightened with happiness as she kissed his fender. "I missed your voice, and I'm glad to see you're doing better."

The small yet happy reunion was tenderly cut short when Sally saw the worrisome look Lightning was expressing. She didn't realise she had fallen asleep, she looked out the window seeing the sun on the horizon, and she had noticed some changes had been made around the room, she noticed a bag full or doctor equipment, she wondered if someone had come in overnight to check on Lightning, and perhaps that would explain the worried look Lightning was showing.

"I am, but I do need to talk to you about something I've been thinking about." He said in a worried tone.

Sally almost bit her lip in worry, but kept her composure, she needed to know what he had been thinking.

"What is it?" She asked worriedly.

He sighed deeply, feeling like this was a tough decision to make but it felt like it was the best thing to do in his current situation, and he felt like it would take longer for him to recover after this little accident. If he fainted from flashing lights, it would be a long time until he could even look at a flashing camera for a while.

"Well, with all that's been happening around me lately, and the plans you and I have for the future, it might be best to just retire now…" His words were in pain, but Sally could tell he was saying something she thought he'd almost never say.

Saying the word retire as if that was painful to say, but he knew it was the right thing to do right now.

 **How is that for a much longer chapter? Now, I am hoping to wrap this story up soon, probably in the next two chapters at least, depending on how long I make them, but we will have to wait to see. Thank you all for waiting patiently, more chapters will be coming up soon. ;)**


	9. Conflicted Emotions

**Well now, didn't have to wait so long for the next chapter then, didn't you? ;) This story is on my to-do list and it's at the very top, so it is my top priority at the moment, if some of you are waiting on my other story Love Behind a Screen (Miraculous Ladybug story) I'll be completing that story after I finish this one. Also, before any of you ask, I will not be making a sequel story, I want to try and keep my stories original, and not post sequels all the time, as I have done previously with one or two of my stories.**

 **But anyways, thanks for the reviews, glad to see people are still reading this even after the extremely long delay in chapters, I do promise now to keep pumping out the chapters until the story is completed! :D**

 **Enjoy Chapter 9 of Twist of Fate! :)**

 **Cars © Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 9 – Conflicted Emotions**

Sally did not expect Lightning to mention retirement, in fact, she was not sure what to have expected, and she thought that he possibly wanted to rest for another racing season or move up their wedding at the least. For a moment, she thought he was out of his mind, but began to understand why he would make a decision like this, yet it still did not feel right for him to retire now.

"Stickers…you shouldn't retire now."

Lightning sighed, feeling as if he knew she was going to say that. "I know, but I feel like if I keep putting my life at risk I might not have a life to live anymore. I'm better off staying here with you; I don't want our relationship to be cut short because of my reckless behaviour." He said firmly, his tyre touching hers gently.

Looking down, she felt like he was being too hard on himself. It was true he had two accidents recently that made him stay in hospital for a little while, but they hadn't been told that what Lightning has experienced so far if life threatening, all he needed was lots of time and rest before he could race again.

Sally shook her hood in disagreement. "No, you shouldn't retire because of that. You just need to let yourself rest for a while for now, as much as I love seeing you here at home, I love watching you do what you love, and that is racing. You can't race now of course, but I'm saying retiring now won't solve the problem." She explained thoroughly, feeling as if Lightning was doubting himself excessively soon.

Lightning sighed; he did not know what to think. He felt like it was the right decision to make, especially in his condition, he still felt very weak and sensitive to bright light.

They both left the hospital that evening, to ensure the light from the sun would not damage Lightning's eyes further. Everyone in town gathered to see them, their fellow friends glared at the remaining reporters who wanted to flash cameras and ask a million questions. They remained silent and still for the sake of Lightning, they were all aware of what happened to him regarding the flashing cameras causing him to faint, the last thing they wanted was for him to collapse yet again.

One reporter did speak up, though respectively holding the microphone not too close to Lightning but close enough to pick up his voice. "Mr McQueen, do you think your recent fainting spell could change your view on your racing career? And does this affect your ability to race for the future racing seasons?"

He was about to respond, when Sally drove in front and in between the reporter and her fiancé. "Listen, he just needs some rest for now. He won't race in the next season due to his post crash injuries and recent faint episode, he will continue his racing career as soon as he has been told by a professional that he is healthy and fit enough to race again." She explained firmly, feeling like Lightning might tell them his thoughts that he had told her earlier that day.

They fell silent, everyone else around them too, including their close friends. They could tell that something had been stirred up to make Sally respond so sternly to the reporter, they were curious to ask, but felt like it would be best to wait until the next day, they both looked exhausted and felt like after a good night's rest back at their home would make them feel much more relaxed and open to explain what had happened, if anything had happened at all.

Out of everyone, Mater seemed the most concerned for the both of them, but especially worried about his best friend, it seemed like he had changed since the crash. He followed them towards the Cozy Cone; he would back off if he needed to, but was concerned for his best friend and Sally too. It seemed as though Lightning wanted to respond to the reporter, but Sally denied him to and got in the way. It wasn't exactly normal for her to act that way.

He saw them both go into the Cozy Cone, but left the slide door open, meaning that they weren't going to shut everyone out straight away, that's what Mater thought at the very least. Slowly driving up, he asked if he could just have a little talk with them, he didn't like being a bother, especially after the World Grand Prix events.

"Excuse me; hope you don't me asking what is going on?" Mater asked politely, nervously rubbing his tyre, worried he'd be denied, but knew Sally would be kind about it.

Lightning lowered his eyelids, feeling tired, but smile to see his best friend concerned for him, and was happy to finally see him after a little while. "Hey buddy; glad to know you're concerned about me."

Mater smiled. "Great to see you too bud, how are you doing? You seemed like you needed to say something just now, why didn't you let him speak Miss Sally?" He asked in concern, turning to her.

With a huge sigh, she turned to Lightning slightly with a worried look, before turning her eye contact to Mater. "I didn't want him to tell the news that he might retire."

Nothing but the sound of a gasp in shock and a slight jump from the tow truck were heard. "McQueen, you're thinking of retiring!?" He shouted in shock.

In a panic, Sally quickly shut the door so everyone outside wouldn't hear, she was glad no one else but Mater followed them, but could see a majority of them gathered at Flo's. "Not so loud, I don't think this should be expressed on that volume."

"Oh, sorry buddy." He apologized nicely, feeling guilty for saying that loudly. "Buddy, why are you thinking of retiring now? This doesn't sound like you."

Lightning breathed a deep sigh, seeing his two closest souls in front of him in confusion wondering why he had made such a decision, Mater was more confused as Sally knew most of it already, but there might be parts that Sally di d not yet know about that Lightning was hiding.

He bit his lip before he spoke. "Look, I just feel like that I should play it safe for now on. Ever since that crash and then proposing to you…I feel like putting my life at risk by racing is dangerous for both of us. I want you and I to have a happy future together. Mater, I would hate to hurt myself more and have you worry about your best friend all the time, or better yet…not have that best friend in your life anymore…" Ending on a sorrowful and sincere note, his eyes swelled with tears, they could tell he wasn't joking around.

Sally and Mater looked at each other, their thoughts synced in that very moment; Sally's lips trembled slightly, while Mater's eyelids lowered in deep worry and sadness before he spoke up.

"Well, that is true buddy, neither I nor Miss Sally ever wants to lose you, and everyone else around town wouldn't like it either, but you don't have to quit racing just to save your life."

Before Lightning could reply, Sally continued from where Mater left off.

"Yes, racing can be dangerous. However up until your most recent crash, you've never had anything that devastating. In fact, in the more recent years, I've watched you race and not get a single dent on you. Back when you just moved here, you were still bumping into other racers, coming back home with dents and Doc would have to fix you up. Just look how far you've come Lightning, you're not the rookie you once were, you've learnt so much more since then, and because of your experiences, you're less likely to get hurt out there."

Deep down, he knew Sally was right, yet his stubbornness denied him to admit she was right. He shook his hood, smiling and acknowledging what Sally had said. "I know Sally, it's just in my age, it'll become harder and harder for my parts to be replaced if I ever do crash more from now on. The racecars today are so advanced and efficient, and they're gaining so much advantage over my generation. I feel like a few more years and my parts will become much rarer to replace and eventually…I wouldn't be able to do anything."

Mater drove beside his best friend, nudging his tyre gently. "Hey, look at me, I have missing parts and I'm still here aren't I? I mean, I do miss my hood and my other headlight and other nuts and bolts I've lost…but hey, I'm still happy with what I have, and I'm still chugging around just fine." He ended with a smile, his eyes widening in hope that would make Lightning think differently about his decision.

Lightning knew Mater was right in a way, some missing parts wouldn't stop him from racing, it might slow him down, but it also depended on what parts he would lose. He'd only be embarrassed if he lost his hood like Mater, and wouldn't be too saddened over missing headlights, and besides, it was only up until the World Grand Prix that he ever had real headlights.

However, if he lost something that was compulsory to race, basically anything to do with his engine to make him reach high speeds, he wouldn't be fit to race anymore.

"Mater, you're right about that, it's just…what if I lost a part of me that I needed for racing, like the power to accelerate to high speeds, and to maintain that speed, losing any part of my engine…would imminently force me to stop racing." He explained, acknowledging what Mater had said, but gave a new perspective on his explanation.

Sally sighed, Lightning was just finding more ways to make people understand that retiring now was the best idea, but in her mind it wasn't, he was just being stubborn. Now, it was her turn to be stubborn back, denying that now is the time for him to retire, even if he and much of the press think he should.

"Listen Lightning; please stop doing this to yourself." She firmly instructed. "You shouldn't retire now; once you've fully recovered you'll be fine to race again. If you saw your racing from my perspective, you'd see how cautious yet still very fast during your races you are. It was only this once that you crashed and damaged yourself more significantly, that doesn't mean it's going to happen again." She informed with confidence, almost feeling like if Lightning didn't accept this that she was going to hit him hard with her tyre.

"I guess you're right Sally, I'll think about it. It's been a long day, I think it's best for all of us to just rest."

With that, they all agreed. Mater wished them a nice good night's sleep before he left, leaving Sally to close up the reception office and snuggle alongside her fiancé, with the thoughts of Lightning's choice lingering in her mind. Meanwhile, Lightning fell asleep almost instantly, but his expression remained intensely distressed as he fell into a deep sleep.

" _No, Lightning! You're going to crash!"_

" _Don't hurt yourself again, please. I can't take much more of this!"_

" _I want you to stay with me; don't race to crash yourself again."_

" _Next time you crash…it could be fatal…"_

 _Echoes of Sally's voice as well as his friends echoed throughout the racing stadium. Almost as if those echoes came from the crowds, he looked up at them, dozens of the audience were repeats of Sally, Mater, and all his friends from Radiator Springs. They were all repeating those same words to him several times. Lightning's speed reached critical, he felt his tyres begin to spin out of control, he clenched his teeth in fear as his tyres spun him into the wall at high speed, causing him to fly through the air._

 _As he flew through the air, sounds of cries from his friends echoed through the air, but the most valued one that stood out from the rest was hers._

" _Sticker, no!" She cried._

 _Flying through the air, he breathed slowly and heavily, closing his eyes as tears engulfed them. "I'm sorry Sally."_

 _It all faded to black, the pain was extreme, parts of him scattered across the grass field inside the track. In the distance, he heard the sounds of racers screeching to a halt, sirens drawing nearer, and a familiar Porsche engine speeding towards him._

" _I told you not to do this…"_

He gasped as he opened his eyes, moving slightly in shock before his eyes shifted back to reality and seeing his surroundings. His eyes immediately shifted to the peaceful sleeping figure beside him, his lips trembled in worry. That dream intensified his decision to retire, but he also thought if it was a dream that was supposed to scare him and do what the public wants. There wasn't many older racecars like him racing on the field these last few season, in fact, he saw more and more retire.

The stubbornness within him began to change, he realized the dream wanted him to give in and never race again. In that moment, he realized how much he loved racing, and as much as he would like to prevent another crash like that, there wasn't much he could do to change his future if that were to happen.

All he knew is that there was a lot more to think and talk about tomorrow with Sally, and finally begin talking more about their wedding.

 **A little bit shorter than the previous one, but if you can tell we are reaching the end of the story. I'm not saying that was the end just there, I think maybe one or two more chapters should wrap this story up. I hate making stories way too long for readers, I think it just leaves them lingering too long to get to the ending. Besides, I have a great, yet slightly unexpected ending for you guys, much like a lot of the Pixar movies have in common. Sometimes the ending you expect, is not what happens exactly. ;)**

 **See you all soon for the next, and possibly final Chapter of Twist of Fate! ^^**


	10. A Final Decision

**I think this will be the final chapter, mainly because a lot of the last chapter seemed like things were starting to come to a close, and with the ending I have in mind, the ending isn't really far away at all. In that regard, I will try to make this chapter long for the sake of it being the last chapter, making sure I tie up all loose ends so I do not end up leaving you people with too many unanswered questions.**

 **It was a fun ride making this story, my only regret is not updating and completing it sooner, and I do deeply apologise for that. I hope that this final chapter will make everyone happy. :)**

 **Enjoy the final Chapter of Twist of Fate. ^^**

 **Cars © Disney Pixar**

 **Chapter 10 – A Final Decision**

The sun rising took too long for Lightning to wait any longer to tell Sally his thoughts from that dream, he shook his hood and immediately headed over to Flo's for his morning drink, only to find that it was still too early and nothing was open yet. Then, he heard feint peaceful music down the road towards the highway, he knew who it was immediately and drove carefully down the smooth road he had paved many years ago towards Fillmore's tent.

As he drove there, his eyes looked to the road he was driving on, and a wave of emotions hit him in that moment. He realised just how truly blessed he was to have wrecked their road and then fix it, but not just fixing the road, but fixing the hearts and hopes of the townsfolk, falling in love, finding a true best friend and most of all, finding a mentor that would guide him to a great future.

He smiled at the thought; before he knew it, he was at Fillmore's.

A few hours later, everyone was situated at Flo's. Sally was still in the Cozy Cone office taking in a few new reservations while a few other customers had just checked out that morning, she had already been working very hard and it was only nine in the morning. She did not take much wonder as to where Lightning was; she knew that with everything going on he would not speed away from home. When she saw him driving towards Flo's, she smiled lovingly at him while she cleaned out some of the cone rooms, but also saw there was a look on him that she could not describe. It seemed like he had something on his mind but was remaining quiet and patient about speaking up about it.

She was sure it was to do with last night, has he come to a final decision? She hoped he did, it was worrying to think that he was considering retiring now. He was in fine condition to race as soon as he had enough time to rest and recover, and perhaps being out the next season would allow him more time to fully recover before coming back to a fresh start the following season. However, she somehow understood why he was considering it. Many of his old friends were beginning to retire, and eventually Lightning would break down too much and his parts would become rarer to find, and perhaps having a whole racing season off would change his racing generation too, causing others to retire and the whole racing sport being new generation racers.

There were many factors supporting him retiring, but she knew Lightning was a fighter, and that is why in this situation she had to be the one to fight back, because Lightning was slowly giving up on racing ever again. As much as seeing him around here more often, it was honestly a little sickening to see him home all the time, he still has so much to live for, he's not that old, even if the racing sport is slowly changing to open up new generation racers into the sport. He still has a lot left in him; she does not want that to go to waste.

She does not want him sitting in Doc's old shed watching his races all day everyday and eventually regretting his decision to retire. He needed to decide properly when he was done, not when the press or the sport thought he was done. From her point of view, it seemed like he was beginning to be pressured into hanging up his Lightyears. Did he not realise that she loved watching him race, watching him being in his element? Mater, Sarge, Fillmore, Guido and Luigi loved being with Lightning on the track too, helping him out every time he came to a pit stop, supporting him as much as they could, and being happy with whatever number he finished the race in.

Sally hoped he had made the right decision with his racing career, and unfortunately she felt like if his final decision was to really retire, and he was serious about it, she felt like she would not have much of a choice but to accept what he had decided to do. That hurt her, she did not want him to stop racing, but she couldn't stop him from making that decision, she knew it was his life, but was he aware that his life decision would affect her and everyone else too?

After completing the new reservations, checking out the early birds for the day and then cleaning out the empty rooms, she headed over to Flo's, where almost everyone else was. It was nearly ten in the morning and a lot of them were not at work yet, they were all hanging around McQueen talking in laughter. Sally raised an eyelid in slightly confusion, her lips parted slightly as she approached, but before she could say anything, Lightning turned and greeted her lovingly.

"Morning Sally, nice to see you this morning."

She cleared herself before responding. "And good morning to you too." She replied to him, before raising her voice. "And good morning everyone." Sally greeted in a nice and loud enough tone so everyone else could hear her.

They all greeted her good morning as well, Flo greeted her personally, serving her Sally's favourite can of drink, and she winked at her before driving off to serve other customers. Meanwhile Sally drove up to Lightning's side, happy yet confused to see him so happy and full of life after his situation last night. She wanted to ask, but he was in a happy conversation with Ramone.

"Thanks for the tip Ramone."

"No problem man, it's a great idea to get planning sooner than later." Ramone replied casually with a wink.

Without a warning, Lightning nuzzled Sally's side, she gasped at his touch, and the confusion began to become more prominent in her expression. "Okay, what's going on?" She asked in suspicion.

Lightning moved back slightly with a confused smile. "Nothing, I'm just very glad to see you. I was hoping we'd get to talk when I woke up, but I guess I was the early bird this morning." He explained with a chuckle.

"Talk, about what happened last night? Have you made a decision? What are-" She was shushed immediately by a peck on the lips from him, after that brief tender moment they both shared, Sally continued to speak but was interrupted by Lightning.

"Slow down." He insisted with a smile. "I was just talking to everyone about more wedding plans." He stated.

Sally paused herself, wedding plans? She thought to herself why would he be talking about planning their wedding after what was going on the previous day? The only thing he seemed to talk about was retirement, had he already made the decision to retire, hence he was making more wedding plans? She did not want to jump to conclusions or ask why unless things started getting too confusing for her. Therefore, she simply nodded with a smile and joined in on the planning.

It was almost two hours later that everyone had to go to work by this point; luckily, the customers understood that after Lightning being out of hospital from the blinding light incident, it was fine for them to check on him after the fact.

Lightning and Sally were lucky the reporters weren't in town that day, however they were surprised that there weren't any of them around, especially after Lightning being out in public again after his incident. Lightning thought that maybe they were respecting his wishes and gave them both some privacy for a while, that's what he thought until he and Sally drove past Lizzie's house and they heard the radio speak his name.

" _Due to Lightning's recent injuries involving the flashing cameras of the fellow press, we can safely assume that Lightning McQueen will not be returning to the Piston Cup racing season no more. We have heard rumours of his retirement yet these facts are yet to be confirmed my McQueen himself. His lawyer and fiancé Sally Carerra insists that the press leave him be due to his recent crash injuries and allow him to recover until further notice."_

His instant reaction was a scoff, he never confirmed to anyone that he was going to retire, and he was right about a lot of the press being against him not retiring, as well as the racing community. "Hey, they can't say that about me."

" _We have one of the other near retired racers with us; care to tell us what you think. Is Lightning McQueen finally retiring from racing?"_

" _You know, I always found him to be quite the fighter out on the track, but not the kind of fighter that shoves others aside to get what he wants, much like another racer who is currently retired with one Piston Cup trophy on him. In my opinion, I cannot see him retiring so soon. I know he has been in the sport about five years longer than I have, it's only because of today's more modern technology that's forcing us slightly older racers to retire to make way for these quote un quote 'new generation' cars."_

" _We have had reports of several sponsors forcing their racers to retire; some have reported the lack of wins since some of the new generation cars have been out on the track. This could just be a matter of time until Lightning McQueen confirms his retirement, do you agree?"_

 _There was a sigh from the fellow racer. "Look, I'm not sure. After his crash and hearing updates on how he's been going I think he'll be okay in time to race again, but right now he can't do much. I just hope the best for my friend and hope that you get a safe recovery Lightning."_

With a sigh and a smile, Lightning thanked his fellow racecar friend on the radio, before cruising off towards the end of the main road with Sally, and at this time, Sally wanted to ask many questions.

"Stickers, what's going on? I wasn't going to say anything but today hasn't been going the way I was kind of expecting it to go." She admitted honestly.

He paused, stopping in his tracks while his smile remained on his lips; he turned to look at her. "Well, what were you expecting then?" He asked gently.

Sally thought for a moment, in a way she was expecting him to still feel down in the dumps, she was surprised to see him so happy and full of motivation, especially about planning their wedding. She felt like something must have happened to him overnight that caused him to seem so happy after what happened the previous day. It might have been a dream, or he was simply right from last night, it seemed just sleeping on it made him have a clear mind about things. Yet he still had not given a clear answer whether he was retiring or not.

"Well, I guess I didn't expect to see you so happy today, especially after what we discussed yesterday." She explained, still having that confused expression.

Lightning almost forgot that yesterday he was in an opposite mood as compared to how he was currently feeling; he understood why she was a little confused as to why he seemed so positive all of a sudden. However, when he was with Mater moments ago at Flo's he did not breathe a word of confusion, he began to think that Mater was just being supportive, or did not notice the change in him. He decided not to think about how Mater thought too much, as Sally's confused and worried expression were all he could see within his eyesight.

He breathed a sigh with a smile as he looked at her lovingly. "I'm sorry; I guess I forgot how I was feeling yesterday." He admitted. "But I feel like I should tell you why I'm acting like this now in contrast to how I was feeling the day before."

Sally did not breathe a word, her curiosity began to boil at this point, and she had to know what was going on. Her eyes widened as she waited in anticipation for the answer to roll off his tongue.

"You see, last night I had this horrible dream, well I say dream when I could say nightmare instead…but anyway, this…nightmare I had…it reflected on my thoughts lately about retiring now. It began to scare me how much it would pain me to see you in pain because I put myself in danger when I race. In that dream…I witnessed the worst part of a crash…seeing your face and hearing the painful cries in your voice…" He stopped briefly, his eyes filling with tears as he imagined that very scene playing out in front of him.

She felt a tear shed in her eyes too, she could not bear to see him in pain too. "I'm sorry, but I do think what you're describing so far might be over exaggerated…this may seem terrible to ask but….how severe was the…crash?" She asked, hesitating a lot, feeling like she would be playing with his feelings asking too many questions after he just explained part of that terrible dream.

There was a brief moment of silence, she knew what she asked of him only made his thoughts go deeper and further penetrating his already saddened feelings towards what happened in that dream.

"It was…life threatening…" He sniffled quietly, painfully imagining his crippled body lying in front of Sally.

Sally gasped in pain, deeply saddened by his response. "Oh…I couldn't bear to see you like that…"

Lightning nodded slowly before shaking his hood to get the negative thoughts off his mind. "What I realised from that dream…was that anything could happen to me at any time on the racing track, and it wouldn't even be my fault. I also realised that retiring now…I still have so much to live for, I do not think it is best to cash in now. I decide when I'm done racing, not the press, not the sponsors, or other racers, only I decide when it's time to hang up my tyres and spend the rest of my later years here…with my soon to be wife." He ended on a loving note, nuzzling Sally's side with a pleasant moan in happiness.

She could not help but smile widely as she nuzzled him back, overwhelmed with joy that he decided that he was going to continue racing the moment he was fully recovered. "I was hoping you'd say that." She replied in a softened tone.

They shared a brief intimate moment with each other before they slightly broke apart from each other, but keeping their tyres almost linked together, Sally wondered why Lightning was going this way towards the end of the main road. Was he going to the court, or could he possibly be thinking of going out to Wheel Well? She thought with how careful Lightning wanted to be that he would not even consider it in his current condition.

"So, why were we going this way?" She asked, a little worried about the answer she might get.

Lightning chuckled as he closed his eyes slowly before breathing in and out deeply. "We are going up to Wheel Well to look at where we're going to have the wedding." He answered, with the smile and the look in his eyes seemed so pure and full of love.

Sally paused and almost gasped in awe, he was planning to have the wedding up there? She thought to herself. It was so thoughtful of him to start planning their wedding up there, but a thought occurred to her that caused some serious worry.

"We are going to drive up there slowly, yes? I don't want you to-" Before she could continue, Lightning interrupted her.

"Risk myself getting hurt I know, I think it's best for us to…as Ramone would say, go low and slow." He said in a flirtatious tone, smirking at her with one of his tyres reaching out for hers.

Sally smirked too. "If you say so Stickers, let's take this ride low and slow, just for you." She replied, pecking him on the lips.

With that, they both slowly drove up to Wheel Well, neither was tempted to drive up there in a hurry, and besides what would be the hurry for? Neither of them had plans to do, and until Lightning was fully recovered he didn't have much to do around town either. All he wanted to do was spend as much time as possible with his friends but most importantly….his soon to be wife.

From that day on, Lightning understood that he cannot control fate, it may have its twists and turns but one will recover and get through them, all it takes is a little time and rest as well as a clear mind. He understands now that if he does crash, it was not because of him, it was only a twist of fate.

THE END

 **What a perfect way to end it, exactly what I had in mind for it. ^^**

 **So, what did you guys think? I know some of you may be saddened that I ended the story with only 10 chapters, the initial plan was to do the wedding and the family stuff, but I say if you want to read about that, be sure to check out my other Cars story "What Happens Next" for how I wrote their wedding and their future family. ;)**

 **I'm very happy with how this story ended, and will I write more Cars stories in the future? Well, it's quite possible I will, but for now, I'm going to start working on my other unfinished story on here. It was a lovely journey writing this story for you all, I just wished I finished writing it sooner. Oh well, I guess it was just a Twist of Fate that I finished it now instead of last year! :p**

 **See you all again someday soon for another Cars story! ^^**


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